Time Is Never Enough
by JabbaJabba
Summary: Annabeth Chase was the face of doctors everywhere around America. She led a perfect life. Almost. Percy Jackson was New York's #1 poorest, laziest sleazebag. He was what defined stupidity. He was the pinnacle of failure. When Dr. Chase tells Percy that he had been diagnosed with cancer, how will he take it? Can Annabeth put down her stardom to fulfill Percy's last wishes?
1. UPDATES

**Hello all. Welcome to my update page. Here is where I'll keep you updated on all things **_**Time Is Never Enough. **_**This page serves several purposes. First and foremost, ****I go back and revise chapters from time to time, sometimes because of a spelling or grammatical mistake, and sometimes because I want to change a scene due to *insert reason here*. Whenever I do, I'll tell you guys about it here. Second, news that affects and relates to this story will be written here (i.e. delays, shoutouts, important life updates, etc). **

**UPDATES**

***8/31/13* - I received a good question via PM today. The person asked me whether or not I'm concerned about the increased amounts of Guest reviews I'm receiving. She states that she doesn't want me to be accused of "review spamming" and get my story and account shut down. First off, I thank you for your concern and care. I really mean it. Secondly, the answer is no. I'm not worried at all. Why? Because it is possible for FanFiction to root out spammers by checking the IP address the review was sent from. No matter how many accounts you make, you can't change your IP - at least not at your own house. So no, I'm not worried. **

***9/3/13* - The day I painfully go back to school. It goes without saying that the time it'll take to upload new chapters will be expanded. Sorry guys!**

***8/21/13* - Tweaked a lot of chapter two in order to make it a lot less cheesy. Reading this chapter again, I cringed whenever I reached the middle section. The cheesiness was just so…cheesy. Percy will no longer hug Annabeth like an abject five year old, and Annabeth will no longer act like a diming angel sent from Heaven. She will show a bit more attitude in this chapter. **

***8/21/13* - Fixed the opening sequence of chapter one because I saw too many repetitive "had" in the first paragraph. I also grammatically changed some things to make the chapter more readable. **


	2. Opposites

***WARNING!* Due to his reputation, Percy will be pitifully harassed by the citizens of New York a lot in this story, so if your heart aches whenever Percy gets bullied, leave now! This is my only warning!**

**Annabeth **

'_What a day,' _I thought to myself as I scrolled through my iPad. I just finished open heart surgery on a sweet elderly woman named Bethany. Even for me, that was no simple task. The woman was diagnosed with congenital heart defect, which had never been easy to cure.

As I continued to scroll through my iPad, I found a picture of my family. I smiled as I saw everybody's unique faces. My dad usually never smiled, even for pictures, so it was no surprise that he had a frown when the picture was taken. My dad, Frederick Chase, was a very successful business man. He loved his job more than anything, sometimes even more than his family. That's why he forced me and my brother, Malcolm, to study hard when we were kids. _'Failure wasn't an option,' _he always said.

My mom was similar. She wasn't very joyous or gleeful in the slightest, but there was one thing that separated her from my dad: she cared about her family more than her job by far. Even then, her job still meant a lot to her. She was a dentist. A very successful one at that. Any New Yorker who wanted to get their teeth cleaned went to my mom, no questions asked.

My brother, Malcolm, is the most distant family member I have. Unlike my dad, Malcolm can be very sweet and nice, but it seemed as though he only acted like that to pass the awkwardness he felt when he was around me. When he was out of my sight, he would be funny and charming, but in front of me? He was like a completely different guy. He had chosen to be a football player, much to my father's dismay and horror, but I felt as though that was a perfect job for him. He was head of the football team during his high school years, so this job was almost expected.

Then there was Luke, my future husband. We had been engaged for several months now, the wedding a mere ten months later. We were perfect for each other. We had similar personalities, similar tastes in food, TV shows, etc. We were both highly intelligent, as well. There was nobody else in the world that was as compatible with me as Luke was. He, too, was a doctor, although he worked at a different hospital. From what I heard, he was an amazing doctor, one that parents sent their children to and girls fawn over.

As for me? I was Annabeth Chase. To be clearer, I was **the **Annabeth Chase. I was a doctor, but somehow, someway, I became a star after miraculously saving a child from dying when the chances of him surviving were ten to nill. After that, my face became the key icon for doctors everywhere around the United States. Other doctors envied me, fawned over me, or wanted to be me. Either way, I was happy to be famous. I didn't want to be one intentionally, but it just happened without warning. I couldn't deny how good it felt though, as selfish as that sounded.

As my smile started to widen even bigger, the bus I was riding on came to a sudden halt. I got up with a happy sigh as I went to leave the bus.

The bus driver nodded towards me as I left the bus, and I merely smiled back, making him blush in the process. Even at the age of twenty five, I was still very pretty. Selfish, I know, but that was what most men had called me. It was as common to me as the word "hi".

I stepped down and took a three minute walk towards my mansion. As I got to the front step, I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. It was a familiar scent – the scent of my mom's cooking. My mom's cooking was unmatched in my eyes. Even after twenty five years of living with my mom, I never grew tired of the scent and taste of her cooking.

I hurriedly entered the building, causing the chime above the front door to ring. As soon as I took three steps inside the house, I felt a pair of strong hands wrap around me from behind, lifting me into the air.

"Luke!" I screamed as I laughed. "Put me down!"

"Nah, I'm good," Luke joked, hugging me even tighter.

"I want my mom's cooking!" I protested, but Luke would here none of it.

"It's not even done yet," Luke said. He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Until then, you're mine."

Those four words sent shivers down my spine. I was about to turn around and dive my face into his lips when I heard a masculine "ahem" coming from beside us.

Turning around, the both of us saw my dad standing there with a disapproving look on his face. Luke immediately put me down and smiled in embarrassment. I just blushed.

"So," my dad began to say. I already knew what he was going to ask.

"It was successful, daddy," I answered with a smile before he could even finish his sentence. He was obviously talking about the surgery. He merely nodded as he took a newspaper to the couch.

I sat down on the sofa and nervously asked him the question I held in all day. "Dad?"

He didn't respond, so I just kept talking.

"Can I go to the Garden's Café tomorrow and hang out with Piper?" I asked as innocently as I could. The answer was almost expected.

"No," he merely said, not caring to detail himself.

"Please?" I begged once more. He gave me a demonic glare that told me I should stop asking because his answer wouldn't change.

Luke saw that I was conflicting with myself and decided to dive into the conversation.

"Uh, Mr. Chase, I'm sure Annabeth was just kidding," Luke started to say. "She cares much more about her studies than her entertainment factor. Isn't that right, Annabeth?"

I didn't want to say yes, but then again, I'd rather not suffer my dad's everlasting rant, so I just nodded.

"Good," was all my dad could muster before reading his newspaper again.

"Uh, follow me upstairs for a minute, won't you?" Luke asked me. I looked at him in confusion. "I have some papers I want you to check."

I noticed him winking at me and I immediately understood what he meant. "Uh, yeah, sure. Let's go."

Before my dad could say anything, I took Luke by the hand and led him up the stairs. I dragged him into my room and locked the door behind me. I gave a slight sigh before sitting down on my bed.

"Thanks," I said to Luke with a smile. He smiled back and sat beside me.

"Anything you want to talk about?" he asked me. I ruffled my hair before answering him.

"It's just…I study all the time and do all that I can to please my dad, but when I ask him whether or not I could take a breather, he always refused me."

Luke enveloped me in a hug. "I'm sure he just cares about your future, Annabeth."

I broke the hug and stared at my future husband. "I already have a great future! I'm a doctor, a successful one at that, and I have you! How could my future be bad?"

"Uh…" Luke said, which annoyed me. I hate how he always tried to sugar coat things for me. I knew what the obvious was. I didn't need him to sprinkle his reassurance on them. To make it worse, whenever I asked him a logical question after he tries to sugar coat things for me, he always went "uhh", as though he didn't know what to say next.

"Whatever," I said, calming herself down a bit. "I'll just do my best to keep daddy happy."

"You do that," Luke said with a sly smile. "And I'll do this."

He pulled me into a deep kiss, one that I gladly returned back. I needed this more than anything at that moment. He gently pushed me onto the bed, and well, let's just say that I hoped I didn't get pregnant any time soon.

**Percy **

Potato chips.

Why do they always attract rats? Like goddamn! Stick with your cheese, you pesky little vermin!

"Well, best not let it go to waste," I said out loud to nobody in particular as I picked up a broken piece of chip off of the ground and placed it in my mouth.

As I sat down on my near destroyed sofa, my dog, Failure, walked by my feet and ate the remaining potato chips.

I smiled as I ruffled my dog's hair. "Smart boy. We don't have any good food, so we have to make do with what we have. You're learning quick, boy!"

The dog barked and panted at its master, making me laugh in the process.

"We're partners," I told him, now serious. "Whatever happens, we stick together, okay? Those assholes out in the real world are too judgmental to accept us, so we need to trust each other and only each other, okay?"

The dog barked back in agreement.

"Good answer," I said before yawning. "Wow, I'm tired."

I got up lazily as I stretched out my soreness. I went to my near destroyed bathroom and picked up my near destroyed toothbrush, squeezing a bit of near destroyed Colgate on the brush before I brushed my teeth with it.

Believe it or not, my teeth meant a lot to me for some odd reason. I brushed it carefully every day, usually for as long as ten minutes. I treated them like diamonds – precious gems that must be kept in good shape. Why? I don't know. I'm weird like that.

I'm also pretty weird in the way that I don't like people. I just don't. I don't even like my own body. If I had to choose, I'd rather be a horse.

I have a personal vendetta against humans, a vendetta that would probably never cure itself. That's why I chose to stay secluded, away from the horrors and atrocities of what we call "Earth".

As I finished my ten minute long teeth-brushing, I noticed a familiar pain in my stomach. This had been going around for two months now, and I didn't even know why. At first, I thought it was because I ate too many chips off of the floor and that I'd eventually just shit it out, but that wasn't the case. The pain came back every day, sometimes more than once. It grew worse and worse by the minute, at times becoming unbearably painful.

I really didn't want to go to the doctors to get a diagnostic, seeing as I hated people. But then again, I didn't think I had a choice. Something was wrong with me and I needed to find out what it was.

But for now, all I could do was go to sleep. And of course, sleep didn't come easy, and when it finally did, nightmares filled the void in my shallow head, giving me another reason to hate my life.

~0~

"Hi, how may I help you, sir?" the woman at the front desk asked me with a smile.

"Uh, my stomach has been hurting for the last two months and I was hoping to get it checked out today," I said awkwardly. Talking to people just wasn't my thing.

"Great," the nurse said, which was obviously a lie. "Just sign here, here, and here."

I just looked at the yellow sheet in confusion. "Sign what?"

"Your signature, of course," the nurse clarified as if obvious. I just nodded and scribbled something down. When the woman took the paper back, she tried her best to suppress a laugh before tucking the paper away somewhere safely.

"Do you have insurance?" the woman asked.

"No," I merely replied, shocking the woman.

"Uh, sir, in order to afford this checkup, you need—" the woman began before I placed a few hundred dollar bills on the table. Don't ask how. She looked at the cash in shock.

"This is a once in a lifetime checkup, so keep the tip," I said.

"...Okay," the woman said uncomfortably. "And what's your name?"

"Percy Jackson," I replied. The woman's jaw suddenly dropped, and I could hear a few murmurs in the background. By now though, I was used to this type of attention.

That was me. Percy Jackson, New York's number one failure and loser. A pleasure, to be sure.

The woman behind the counter changed her attitude from pleasantries to mere annoyance the moment I said my name.

"You're going to have Dr. Chase," the woman said quickly, seemingly trying to finish the conversation as soon as possible.

"Alright," I replied before taking a seat. "Bitch…" I whispered under my breath.

It's kind of funny what type of charm I have on people. Whenever I sit down somewhere, the people sitting next to me always stood up and chose another seat.

As I was waiting, countless people pointed at me and whispered things to each other. I overheard a clear, "Isn't that the failure?" from somebody, which I was used to by now.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, my name got called.

"Percy Jackson?" a female doctor called out. As I stood up, I took a quick scan of the doctor who called me. She was beautiful, without a doubt. One of the most gorgeous people I had ever met. For that reason alone, I hated her. I had a motto: "the prettier the face, the uglier the heart".

I waltzed next to her as she smiled at me. I said and did nothing as I followed her to the hospital room. There, she asked me a bunch of worthless questions like whether or not I was in school, if I liked New York, if I had a girlfriend, minor things like that. It annoyed me.

"Okay, so what's the problem?" Dr. Chase asked as she squeezed hand sanitizer out of a bottle. As she thoroughly washed her hands, I could smell the disgusting stench of rubbing alcohol run through my nose.

"Stomach problems," I replied as I held in my breath.

"Care to be a little more specific?" she asked with a smile that made me want to puke._ 'Stop acting so innocent, you slut,' _I thought.

**Annabeth **

'_What is wrong with this patient?' _I asked myself mentally. _'Why does he look as though he hates me?' _

"Um, you're going to need to be more specific for me to treat you," I told him. He surprisingly laughed.

"Aren't you the doctor here? Isn't it your job to find out what my problem is? Or did you seduce some rich doctor into marrying you so you could get a job as a doctor?"

I started to fume when he said that. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, princess," the boy said coolly.

"I-I'll have you know that I'm Annabeth Chase!" I shouted as if I was famous. Well, I was.

"Oh, no wonder you looked so familiar," the boy said with a smirk. "You're that slut from the health magazine."

I felt like slapping the boy there and then, but that was against the rules, so I decided against it. "Slut?! Me?! Who do you think you are, Percy Jackson?"

"I think I'm Percy Jackson," the boy teased with hostility.

"Yeah, you're Percy Jackson," I had said. I wished I just stopped there. However, my anger and pride got the better of me.

"You're the failure and dumbass who didn't amount to anything in school! You're the worthless piece of trash that stains the planet we live on! You're the loser who probably has sex with his own dog! You—"

"You done?" the boy asked. My words didn't seem to faze him at all.

"Hardly!" I screamed in heavy frustration, flailing my arms around.

"Well, I heard what I needed from you," the boy said, his face now serious. "You revealed yourself."

"What?" I asked him. When he didn't answer, I almost strangled him. I **hated **not knowing something. "Tell me!"

"You finally uncovered your mask," Percy said, his sea green eyes staring into me instensly. Under normal circumstances, I would have continued to rant, but something about his eyes was mesmerizing me. I couldn't remember what I was screaming about for one second. For once in my life, I felt dumb and vulnerable.

"Let me ask you something," Percy continued to say, his stare still relevant. "When you saw me today, did you feel like smiling at me?"

"No," I answered, avoiding his gaze so that I didn't get hypnotized again.

"Then why did you?" he asked, which had me lost for words. Why did I smile at him? I knew exactly who he was once I read his name off of my clipboard. So why did I smile?

"It's called a mask," he said as if reading my mind. "People call it "being nice", although that is very wrong. You put on a useless mask for everybody to see the fake you, and when somebody starts getting on your bad side, you remove your mask and show your true self."

"That's not always true," I refuted. "Some people are just genuinely nice."

"Really? How many? Can you compare those "genuinely nice people" to a normal person in terms of numbers?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If you went outside and asked people to donate to charity, would they?" Percy asked.

"Yes, in a heartbeat!" I answered confidentially.

"Fine, I'll take that bet. What does that woman at the desk out front want the most?" Percy asked randomly, which made me think thoroughly. I didn't really know her very well, but I remembered having a conversation with her. She wanted a Samsung Galaxy S4, if I recalled correctly.

"I think she wanted a Samsung Galaxy S4," I answered.

"Do you, by chance, have one?" Percy asked me. I nodded and pulled my Samsung Galaxy S4 out of my pocket.

"My whole family has one," I told him.

"When you're done checking me up, give me your phone," Percy demanded, massively shocking me.

"Never! I don't trust you!" I started to say. "You'd probably run off with it the second I give it to you!"

"Then lock the doors," Percy suggested with a shrug. I bit my lip nervously. I was curious about what he was trying to prove, but…my phone…

"Let's worry about that later. For now, just check me up," Percy said.

I cleared my throat before proceeding. "Well, if we're going to continue, you need to start being specific with me, okay?"

"Anything for you, wiseass," Percy cursed. I just sighed as I waited for him to explain. He told me everything, starting from how the pain begun two months ago to how it hurt him every day. He also explained the bit where he ate food off of the ground, which sickened me to the point of baby barfing.

"Follow me to the x-ray room," I told him. Without saying anything else, I opened the door and hoped that he would follow. Suddenly, I felt somebody tap my shoulder. Turning around, Percy was standing there with his hand stretched out.

"Give me your phone," he said emotionless.

"Now?" I asked him. I shook my head. "After we're done."

"We might as well do it now since we're going to run into that harpy again," Percy said. It was rude, yes, but it made me laugh for some reason. Out loud. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Percy cross his arms, a smirk plastered on his face.

In order to change the subject to prevent any further embarrassment, I pulled out my phone and gave it to him.

"You're not going to lock the doors?" Percy asked me, seemingly impressed.

"No, but I'm going to be watching you like a hawk," I hissed back.

"Great, now hide," Percy told me, shooing away.

"Why should I?" I asked him.

"Just trust me!"

"Yeah, trust a stranger," I teased. I thought about it for a moment before finally agreeing. "If you run away, the whole hospital will be on your ass."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, shooing me away once more. I hid behind the counter, and although I couldn't see anything, I could hear them just fine.

"Yes?" the woman asked, apparently annoyed.

"That orphanage down on Richard Street seems to be low on cash these days, huh?"

"Yeah," the woman replied. "In fact, I was going to go donate $50 to them today."

'_See? I told you most people were genuinely nice,' _I thought to myself proudly. Suddenly, Percy's voice became a mere whisper.

"Hey," I heard him say softly. "You know, I'm in need of $50."

"Yeah, so?" the woman said, scoffing in disgust.

"You think you can give me that $50 for…this?"

I still couldn't see anything, but I knew he was showing the woman my phone. The nerve of that guy!

What shocked me the most was the fact that I heard the woman say, "deal". She honestly accepted that?

"Are you sure?" I heard Percy ask. "With $50, those kids at the orphanage can have a full stomach for a night."

"Yeah, well…I'm sure other people will donate for them," the woman said. There was a silence before the next line was spoken.

"Never mind, I was just kidding," I heard Percy say, relieving me of the burden of losing my phone. Wait, did I just think that? Why am I so selfish?

"Fine," the woman said, scoffing once more. I heard footsteps and slowly emerged from behind the counter. Nobody seemed to had seen me.

Percy handed me my phone back and said nothing as he went towards the x-ray room by himself. I followed him but didn't say anything either.

It was rare for me to be wrong, and for me to be wrong against the dumbest kid in New York made me beyond embarrassed. _'I swear, if he tells anybody about this, I'll kill him myself.'_

When we got into the x-ray room, I did a quick scan of him and told him that I needed till nightfall until the results came back. He seemed okay with that and started to leave, but not before I stopped him.

"What was the point you were trying to make?" I asked him curiously. "What are you trying to tell me?"

Unexpectedly, he shoved his index finger at me and abruptly got mad. "People like you are never satisfied with what you have," he began to say. "People like you always want more, even though the things you **need **have always been at your disposal.

"You people want new phones. I just need new clothes to replace my torn up ones. You people want Red Bull. I want a single glass of water. You people want caviar. I want a bowl of rice. You people want video games. I want a friend to talk to.

"People are quick to get the things they **want**, but are slow to give things away to people who **need **them."

I just stood there, my mouth gaping at what he was saying. Sure, I felt bad about him not having a friend and all, but why did he point me when he said "you people"? Why was I part of that group?

"Wait, why are you acting as if I'm part of that little gang?" I asked him, my voice a little louder than it should have been.

"Because you are, period."

"How do you know? You don't even know me!"

"Oh, I know about you, Annabeth Chase," Percy said in disgust. "You appear in health magazines everywhere. You're the famous doctor that every medical student aspires to be. Seeing as you are a doctor, you're probably stinkin' rich, and from what I hear, you're engaged to a "hot" doctor. You have an amazing life! Yet you have the balls to complain when somebody gets on your bad side.

"People like me get insulted all of the time, but you don't see me bitching about it! I'm nowhere near perfect, so why can a sleazebag like me take an insult but a "perfect" girl like you can't? Let's not forget about your face!"

"My face?" I asked, a nerve being critically struck. "Are you calling me ugly?"

"No, you're beautiful. Very beautiful, in fact," Percy answered me. I knew that it wasn't the right time, but I blushed anyway. Something about the way his tongue rolled the word "beautiful" made my throat dry.

"But that's the problem!" Percy continued to shout, not embarrassed in the slightest. "You're just like her…"

"Like who?" I asked, confused at who he was referencing to. Percy shook his head to shove away any further thoughts.

"Forget it," Percy said as he stormed away from me.

"Wait!" I called after him. "Where do you live? I need to give you your results tonight!"

He stopped momentarily and said, "Go to the eastern edge of this city and look for a heavily battered shack. It's really hard to miss." He continued to walk on again, pushing the lobby door with a gigantic shove before disappearing out of sight.

~0~

"Oh my God…" I gasped as I read the paper in front of me. It said that Percy Jackson had genomoltic tumors growing inside his stomach. It was getting worse and worse, and by the look of it, he only had a year to live at max.

Chemotherapy will have little to no effect on this type of cancer. Next to surgery, which was not advisable at the time, radiation therapy was the only choice left. Even then, the chances of it actually working was very slim.

I didn't know what to feel as I read this. I felt bad for all of my patients who had to go through cancer, even if it was a douchebag like Percy Jackson. How was I going to break the news to him?

I followed Percy's direction and drove towards the eastern edge of the city, and truth be told, the shack was in plain sight. It was tattered up and molded beyond comprehension. How could anybody live in a place like this?

I parked the car near the shack and opened my door. As I stepped out and closed the door, I smelled an odd oceanic scent irradiating the area, even though the beach was nowhere nearby.

As I got close to the shack, I nearly puked at what I saw next. Somehow, someway, somebody found out that Percy had cancer. Etched on the wall with somebody's blood was written:

_HOPE CANCER KILLZ U SOON, SHITSTAIN!_

**A/N: There's the first chapter! :D Okay, let me clear a few things up. First things first, Annabeth is supposed to be a little selfish at the beginning of this story. The price of stardom, am I right? And Percy? He has a dark past that will be revealed over time. If you liked this story, please do me a favor and follow, favorite, and review! Constructive criticism is gladly allowed, but no flaming. **

**P.S. I'm not used to writing in first person, so if you see any "he" or she" where it doesn't belong, tell me and I'll fix it. Bye! **


	3. Unlikely Friendship

**A/N: I wanted to make something clear, since I'm sure I'll be nagged about this later. There is no such thing as genomoltic tumors, okay? It's just something I made up for the sake of the story. This shouldn't really be a problem, but I just wanted to make it clear before anybody whines about it. **

**Thanks to Retrobution for pointing out some POV mistakes!**

**Annabeth**

"Percy?" I asked softly as I opened the shack door. As soon as the door opened up, I noticed two things. One, it was dark. There was no notable light switch, which made sense since this was just a shack. But seriously, how did Percy see where he was walking under this condition?

Second, the smell of the shack hit me as though I was at the beach. Pure salted water invaded my nostrils instensly, making my eyes tear up a little in the process. How did Percy manage to get his shack to smell like this? How did he even tolerate living with this smell 24/7?

I slowly entered the building and closed the door behind me, causing nothing but total blackness to encompass the room. I began to search for a door of some sort for what seemed like eternity, but eventually found a knob-less door. Pushing it ever so gently, I emerged into a room that had a single burning lantern glowing brightly, spreading light across the room.

The room was empty, or at least nearly empty. There was a single sofa in the middle of the room and a bunch of junk surrounding. By junk, I meant worn out clothes, torn up magazines, food, and worst of all, rats. I squirmed a few times when a horde of the furry creatures scurried among my feet.

At that moment, I heard a consistent noise. It sounded like crying. Was Percy crying? Did he read the message etched onto his shack or something?

Walking ever so slowly, I went to the source of the voice, which was behind the sofa. As I peered over said sofa, I saw a devastating horror.

Percy was bawling over the body of his dead dog.

"Percy…" I said softly, not knowing what to say. I felt so bad for him. His only friend was dead before his eyes, his blood used to paint the message outside of the shack. Percy had every right to be sad.

What I didn't expect was for Percy to jump when he heard my voice. He looked shocked and angst, but worst of all, he looked angry. His once beautiful sea green eyes were now murderous.

He leaped up and forcefully shoved me against the wall. He then started to choke me by pressuring his forearm on my neck. His face was right next to mine, his heavy breathing making me feel tingly.

"What…the…hell…are…you…here…for…?" Percy asked, putting pauses between each word. I tried to answer, but the force of his forearm on my neck prevented any verbal response.

"Are you here to insult me? To tell me that I had what was coming to me, huh?"

I pointed at his forearm and started to gag in order to tell him that I couldn't answer. I could feel the pressure of his forearm loosen, although he didn't fully retreat.

"Tell me!" he screamed at me. Taking a breather, I replied.

"Your results…" I answered weakly. I held up a scrolled piece of paper in front of his face.

Percy's eyes twinkled as he saw the sheet of paper and immediately released his hold on me. He took the paper and opened it up. His eyes darted across the page, and eventually, it slowed down.

I just felt like running. Being in his presence really scared me. The fact that he tried to end my breathing didn't help his case, either.

However, I couldn't run. I didn't know why. Maybe it was out of fear. Maybe it was out of pity. Either way, my body completely refused my brain.

Percy dropped the paper and smiled, which was unexpected. This was in no shape or form a time to smile.

"So…it's true," Percy softly said, his sea green eyes returning to normal. "Normal" was kind of pushing it, but it was no longer murderous at least. I just nodded.

Percy plopped down on his sofa and stared at the floor. "Why…" I heard him ask himself.

"W-why what?" I asked him nervously. His presence still scared the daylight out of me.

"Why don't they just kill me and be done with it?!" he started to scream. He stomped on the ground furiously as he intensely scratched his head. It looked like he was trying to rip his hair out. The thought of him doing that made me cringe for him.

"Why do they keep teasing me like this? Why do they keep making me suffer? Why can't they just kill me?!"

He was beginning to make unfamiliar noises that that bordered between devastation and frustration.

My lips parted in order to say something to comfort him, but nothing came out. Only the unsteady breathing I had went through my lips.

I didn't know what I was doing, but I slowly sat down next to him. He seemed to had noticed, but said nothing. Instead, he started crying his eyes out. The sound of his crying was psychotic, if anything. However, it was understandable given the things he had gone through.

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, one that he swatted away harshly.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted. "Why are you still here? Are you here to wallow in my pitiful state?"

"No, I just wanted to—" I began before he cut me off.

"You **want **more?!" Percy asked, shocked at my answer. "Little Miss Perfect wants more spices in her life, now does she? A rich family and a much-loved husband isn't enough for her?"

I bit my lip and mentally constructed a careful reply. "No," I began. "I don't **want **anything. But you **need** me."

Percy looked at me as though I was retarded. "**I **need **you**?" he said, emphasizing "I" and "you". I just nodded my head.

"Why the hell do I need you for?" he asked me venomously.

I paused before replying. "You told me today how people were quick to get what they want, but slow to give away what people needed."

Percy just stared at me intently, trying to piece together the angle I was getting at.

"It's quick and easy for you to say that you **want** me to leave, but in reality, it's slow and hard for you to say that you **need **me here to comfort you," I whispered with a smile. Wow, that sounded really cheesy. Percy looked ready to refute me, but in the end, he decided to keep his yap shut.

I opened my arms and invited him in. I thought he'd take my gesture, but he just sat there and stared at me intensely.

"How mushy," he snorted, making me look like a fool with my arms still in the air. "This isn't a fairly tale with happy endings, princess."

My irritable side began to overcome my generosity. "Fine. Geez, you don't have to be such a jerk."

After such a heated "discussion", I thought that we were done talking to each other. I didn't expect him to sigh and continue to speak. "I'm scared," he had said.

I looked at him curiously. "What of?"

"Dying. To be more specific, about what happens after I die."

"What do you mean?" I asked him a little confused.

"It's not like I'm going to miss this hellhole of a world at all," he began. "I'm just scared about the "afterlife". I'm scared of the void. I don't want to die and drift into darkness, into nothingness. If it wasn't for my phobia of the afterlife, I would have killed myself a long time ago."

"Don't you believe in God?" I asked him, trying to restore a little faith into the poor guy.

"I did, for one week. I gave up soon after when I saw a young girl get raped despite all of my prayers."

I just stayed silent and listened to his banter. Oddly enough, it was interesting talking to him. He had a unique point of view, one that required logic and critical thinking. Whoever made up the rumor that he was stupid must have been stupid themself.

"If raping, killing, thefts, cheating, and drugs are part of some divine plan, I'm not sure I want anything to do with it," Percy mumbled softly, concluding his view on the world. He stayed silent for a second before speaking up again. "Are you a Christian?"

"Yes, I am," I answered. I used to be very proud of my religion, but hearing Percy's influential speech dug up conflicting questions for me.

"I respect your opinion, even though it's a rather foolish one," Percy replied tonelessly.

"Percy, what happened?" I asked him intently. I was trying to figure out more about him. He was interesting, to say the least. "How did you become like this?"

"Depends what you mean by 'like this'. If you mean being so awesome, then I guess it's just from genetics," Percy joked as he rubbed his eyes. Although he was a complete mess, he looked rather cute doing that.

I giggled a bit as I playfully hit him in the shoulder. He looked at me weirdly.

"Why'd you hit me?" he asked. I was about to joke back until I realized that he was dead serious. His eyes revealed that he was hurt, and the sight of him like that twisted a knob in my heart.

"Percy," I began to explain. "That's just a playful hit. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just what friends do."

"Friends…" Percy repeated. "I…no. No, we can't be friends."

I frowned at his words. "Why can't we?"

"Because you're still too beautiful," he told me. Like the last time, I blushed when he said "beautiful". Luke had told me that I was beautiful many times, but the way Percy said it made my hair stand on end.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you hated beautiful people," I reminded him. He didn't take long to reply.

"Yeah, and I don't intend to anytime soon. I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm just…slow to trust people."

I sighed but smiled. "It's okay. Take your time. At least I know you won't try to make a move on me."

"Trust me when I say that that will never happen," Percy answered, leaning back on his sofa. "I will never fall in love with anybody. Please, let's just leave it at that."

I nodded in acceptance. We just sat there, and surprisingly enough, there was no aura of awkwardness. For either of us. This was the first time I felt like this around a completely new person. Although not to Percy's extent, I too was slow in trusting people. I was insecure and didn't usually reveal too much of myself to anybody I didn't consider a friend.

Percy was different. Something about him just felt right. Of course, I didn't completely trust him, but I felt as though I could at least communicate comfortably with him.

"I wonder what it's like," Percy whispered. It didn't seem like he was asking me directly, but I answered him anyway.

"What, being friends?" I asked.

"No, being normal," Percy muttered. "What does it feel like to have friends? What is it like to have a job? What is it like to have eggs and bacon for breakfast?"

Percy smiled to himself as he thought about those things. The way he said them made me tear up. I knew he wouldn't like it, but I couldn't help pitying him. I don't want know how I'd live without my friends and my family.

I made a decision then and there. No matter what Percy wanted, he **needed** a friend, and I was more than happy to take that position.

"Do you wanna play Uno with me?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Isn't that the French word for five or something?" Percy asked idiotically. I started bursting out laughing, so hard that I had to clutch my stomach in order to control myself. The fact that Percy had a serious and confused face when he said that amplified the funny factor.

"No, silly," I told him as I regained my bearings. "It's a card game."

"I don't have any money to bet with," he asked me innocently. If I didn't control myself, I would have burst out laughing for a second time.

"You don't need money, you Seaweed Brain," I said while trying to suppress a smile. Percy blinked and his eyes widened.

"Are you laughing **at** me?" Percy asked, still wide-eyed.

"N-no!" I said back, trying to suppress an even bigger smile.

"You _are_ laughing at me!" Percy said, shoving his index finger in my direction. And then he remembered something.

"Wait, Seaweed Brain?" he asked confused. At that point, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Tears formed in my eyes as I nearly died laughing. I couldn't see Percy's expression through my tears, but my gut told me that he was blushing.

**Percy **

"This is so confusing!" I whined.

"It's not that hard," Annabeth lectured me. "Just place a red or black card down, or a card that has the same number."

We were playing Uno down on the floor. Luckily, Annabeth conveniently had a deck of Uno cards in her purse. She was very reluctant to sit down on the rat infested floor, but due to my high skill in persuasion, I managed to get her to sit down.

"What does this card mean?" I asked her, showing her a card with arrows rotating around each other.

"That means you have to switch cards with me," Annabeth explained. I stared at my card for a while and saw that she had the bigger stack. I smiled as I put the card down.

"Switch with me," I said proudly. Annabeth gave her cards to me and took mine. I was about to keep playing before I saw Annabeth trying to suppress yet another smile.

'_Goddamn, she smiles a lot,' _I thought to myself.

"What are you laughing about?" I asked her slyly. She avoided my gaze, the smile still stuck on her face.

"Nothing," she lied. I crossed my arms and stared at her instensly. Hopefully, that'd pressure her into admitting what she was holding in. It worked.

"Percy, you're supposed to get rid of all your cards, not try to get the most!" Annabeth said with a hearty laugh. I blinked at her before pouting.

"I want my cards back," I told her. She just stuck her tongue out at me.

"No, they're mine now," Annabeth said like a child.

"Don't act like such a baby," I moaned. I extended my hands and hoped that she would place my cards in my hands. She did no such thing.

"Nope, these cards are now property of Annabeth Chase," she said with a firm nod. I narrowed my eyes at her as I smirked.

"Give it back, Chase," I merely warned. She disregarded it.

"Make me," she said, waving my cards above my face, taunting me. My smirk increased in size.

"Don't do something you'll regret later," I said. That was my final warning. She, yet again, waived it off.

I leapt into the air and pushed her down onto the ground. Then, I used my skinny fingers to tickle her abdomen. There was a fifty-fifty chance that she was ticklish. Fortunately, luck was on my side.

"Percy!" she screamed as she laughed uncontrollably. "What are you doing?!"

"Wow, some smart doctor you are, Wise Girl," I teased, continuing to tickle her. I noticed that her grip on my cards was still tight. "You can't even tell that I'm tickling you."

"Percy! Stop! I can't take it!" she screamed as she laughed, her face becoming red.

"Drop the cards first, then we'll talk," I compromised. Instead, what I got was a ticklish sensation on my own stomach. I had burst out laughing, and during my moment of weakness, Annabeth kicked me off.

I landed on my back while Annabeth took the opportunity to mount me (**A/N: Not in that way, you naughty little fuckers)**.

"Annabeth!" I screamed out, laughing hysterically. "Stop!"

**Annabeth **

I had finally heard him laugh. Percy Jackson's laugh. His laugh was simply _beautiful_. It sounded like a delicate piece of Mozart, something that I wanted to record and replay for hours and hours nonstop.

Not only that, but the grin he had when he laughed intoxicated me. He looked so young and delicate. This Percy was definitely different from the one I had met at the hospital that day.

Little did I know, while I was admiring the new Percy, I had ceased my tickling. Taking that to his advantage, Percy pushed me off, making me splat down on the ground next to him. That was more than enough to wake me out of my daydreaming.

I gave him a death glare, and he just stuck out his tongue.

He suddenly bore a serious face, which was odd considering what we were doing. He began to move towards me slowly, which made me feel uncomfortable.

I started to back away, but unfortunately, I hit a wall. I was stuck between a wall and a Percy.

He kept closing the distance between us, and I suddenly felt very flustered. Didn't he just say that he wouldn't love anybody?

Percy was now face to face with me. I could feel his warm breath, which sent tiny jolts of electricity through my body. He raised his right hand over my face as if he was going to cup my cheek. I didn't know what to do. My mind told me to run away, but for the second time that day, my body refused me.

I closed my eyes as I braced myself for what would happen next. Instead, I felt Percy take the loose strands of hair over my face and placed it gently behind my ear. I opened my eyes and Percy just backed away.

"Why are you so scared, Wise Girl?" Percy muttered. "You looked as though you've seen a ghost or something."

"You…what are you doing?" I asked with a nervous expression.

"When you were on top of me, your hair fell over your face," he calmly replied. "It seemed like it blocked your view, so I moved it behind your ear."

"O-oh," I answered relieved. Although Percy was now considered one of my friends, I still loved Luke and would never do anything to be unfaithful to him.

I stared down at the cards in my hands and smiled to myself.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," I asked him mockingly. I brought the cards up above my face and swung it like a pendulum.

Almost at the same time, we both leapt up and started a game of chase. I was running away with the cards in my hands while Percy chased me from behind, trying to regain his cards.

I sprinted out of the shack, and with Percy still hot behind my tail, I began to realize something. I've never had this much fun before.

My life may have been "perfect", in a sense, but it got dull often. Nobody did anything entertaining. We scarcely laughed, and that was mainly because nobody did anything laugh-worthy.

Being with Percy made me feel like I was ten years old all over again. I hadn't played with anybody since I was fifteen years old. That was the age my dad decided to get all strict with the "no failures allowed" policy.

I wanted this. No, I **needed **this. Everything troublesome was lifted off of my shoulders as Percy chased me around the yard.

Eventually, he tackled me forward, sending both of us sailing across the yard. As we landed, Percy laughed his beautiful laugh as he struggled to get up again.

I got up a second before he did, and during that second I had, I made a beeline toward a nearby tree. I climbed the tree and sat down on a branch. Percy finally caught up to me, and I mocked him by wiggling my legs back and forth like a little girl.

"Hold on," Percy panted. "I…I can't take this. I'm out of breath."

"Already? I'm just getting started," I teased him, although I was starting to feel a little fatigued as well.

"Fuck…you…" he said in between heavy breaths. I giggled as I continued to watch him regain his breathing.

"Now, stop being a coward and come down here," Percy demanded. I just shook my head at him.

"Nah, I'm good," I had said. "The view is good up here."

"Annabeth, the sky looks as though pollution farted all over its face," Percy replied, making me laugh in the process.

I was going to say something witty back before I heard the branch I was sitting on snap. When it broke, I found myself falling through the air, screaming for help. I heard Percy shouting something, too, but I didn't hear what it was at the time.

I had expected to feel a painful sensation when I landed. I didn't. I heard a crack, but nothing else. As I opened my eyes, I realized that Percy had made a human trampoline out of his own body to cushion my fall.

"Oh my God, Percy!" I exclaimed as I quickly got off of his body. I gently helped him stand up.

"Don't worry about it," he told me with a weary smile. "I'm used to bruises and broken bones."

That last line made me tear up uncontrollably. Tears spilt down my face before I even realized what happened.

"Shh, don't cry," Percy said softly as he wiped the tears off of my cheeks.

I looked at him and wondered how **anybody **could treat him badly. Sure, he could be a little rough when you're a stranger in his eyes, but if you hang around him enough, you will notice that he is a really sweet guy. In my book, he is the sweetest guy I had ever met, next to Luke, of course. At that moment, I felt two things. One, I felt like wrapping Percy into a bone-breaking hug, but I decided against it since he probably already had broken bones. Second, I felt like punching every single asshole who disrespected and bullied him.

"It's getting late," Percy told me. "You should go home. Your parents must be worried sick."

"What about you?" I asked as I bit my lip.

"I'll be fine," Percy tried to reassure me. "I'll just sleep for a few days and my bones will heal on its own. No worries."

"I'm a doctor, though," I reminded him. "The least I can do is check if you have any bone fractures."

"Just go home," Percy said with another smile. "Trust me."

I hesitated for a long time before turning around and waltzing towards my car. As I reached my car, I took a look back to see Percy staring at the bloodied words out on the front of his shack. At that moment, I felt like running back just to give him a hug. I didn't, however, seeing as Percy already told me to go home.

'_Don't worry, Percy,' _I thought to myself as I balled my hands into a fist. _'I won't let anybody hurt you ever again.' _

~0~

As I reached the front of my doorstep an hour later, I looked at my house with a weary expression. I was tired from playing with Percy all night, and the sympathy I felt for him didn't help my mood, either.

I sighed as I opened the door, hearing the familiar chime. As I took off my shoes, I heard Luke run over to me, a look of concern on his face.

"Annabeth!" Luke yelled out. "Where have you been? Did he hurt you?"

"What?" I asked him confused. "Nobody hurt me."

"Then what's this?" he asked me, showing me a fresh new newspaper. I looked at the front of the paper and my heart nearly broke in two.

The dominant photo had a picture of Percy tackling me. The caption underneath wrote: _NEW YORK'S SLEAZEBAG ASSAULTS AND VIOLATES ANNABETH CHASE! _


	4. Start Of Something New

**Percy **

'_What just happened?' _I asked myself as I started to cough up more blood. I was lying on the floor, near death. I couldn't move since somebody stomped on both of my legs, breaking my bones in the process. I couldn't crawl away either since somebody dislocated my shoulder.

I just laid there as the heavy rain poured all over my body, my blood mixing in with the water. I felt something tingling on my near broken hand. Grasping whatever it was, I painfully pulled it close to my face. It was a local newspaper. On the cover was a picture of me tackling Annabeth. Underneath of it, the caption read: NEW YORK'S SLEAZEBAG ASSAULTS AND VIOLATES ANNABETH CHASE!

I placed the newspaper down beside me with great effort as I burst out laughing.

'_Even God doesn't want me to have a friend,' _I thought frantically to myself.

I wondered if I was lucky enough to drown underneath the water. Maybe I could die from blood loss. Then again, what was waiting for me in the afterlife? Nothing, just the empty void I grew up fearing.

I didn't believe in all of that sadistic bullshit about God and Satan. Not anymore, at least. I learned a long time ago that in order to survive, you'll either need to put down your beliefs and put a stand, or follow your beliefs and die in vain.

I heard somebody yell out in horror. Maybe it was out of pleasure, I wasn't sure. Nobody cared about me. I could die in the worst way possible and everybody would smirk and piss at my funeral.

Even though I had bonded with Annabeth that day, I was sure that if her social status was on the line, she'd leave me to die.

The voice yelled out again, but this time I noticed a sentiment of concern in it.

'_Annabeth?' _I thought to myself. What was I asking myself? Of course it was Annabeth. It's not like anybody else cared about me.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" an unfamiliar yet calm voice asked me in concern. Seeing as I got nailed in both eyes, my vision wasn't exactly the best. I saw a blurry figure crouch down beside me. I couldn't see the person's face, but I could tell right away that it was a girl, by her figure and her voice.

I didn't even bother saying "help me". I bet that once she realized who I was, she'd make a beeline towards the opposite direction.

"Hang in there!" the voice told me. Whoever it was had the voice of an angel. She nearly made all of my pain go away. Nearly.

I felt myself being picked up and escorted towards a car. _'Was I about to be abducted?' _I asked myself. Then I realized that that wouldn't be any different from my current life. My life had already been a living hell. What could my "kidnapper" possibly do to me that would harm me in the slightest?

I suddenly lost all of my reserved energy, and I found myself falling unconscious.

~0~

I looked up at the ceiling above me. There was one rotating fan above my head, giving me the cool air I needed.

'_Wait,' _I thought to myself in horror. _'I don't have a ceiling fan.' _

"You're awake!" I heard somebody say from beside me. My head was too sore to turn, so I merely whimpered, "Who are you?" to her.

"My name's Piper McLean," the voice returned as sweet as I remembered it was. I was tempted to turn around to look at her, but my neck was too messed up to move.

"Don't try to move," Piper said back. "You were in a really bad position. What happened?"

"Do you know who I am?" I moaned weakly at her. I could guarantee that once she knew who I was, she'd leave me here to suffer alone.

"You're Percy Jackson, right?" Piper said without hesitation or remorse. I widened my eyes in shock. She didn't have an angst tone when she said my name. Besides Annabeth, everybody said my name in as if it was taboo.

"Yes, I am," I replied slowly. "You know, New York's #1 faggot?"

She just laughed, which I could honestly say was as beautiful as her voice. "No, you're not."

I just scoffed, which hurt my throat. "Don't pity me. Please. Everybody knows who I am. Nobody likes me…"

"I pity the state you're in, but I don't pity you as a person, Percy," Piper said back, which raised a million conflicting questions within my head.

"What angle are you getting at?" I asked suspiciously. "Are you trying to humiliate me as well? Let me tell you, I've already been embarrassed enough times in my lifetime. Nothing you can do can faze me in the slightest."

Piper placed a hand on my arm, which made me jump. Not only did it hurt, but I wasn't used to physical contact with other human beings. I took that gesture negatively. I shook my arm out of her grasp. Thankfully, she retreated her hand.

"How do you know I'm not a bad person?" I asked her. "How do you know that I won't rape you when I recover?"

"I don't," Piper answered. This girl was starting to give me a headache.

"Then why did you patch me up?" I hissed at her. I couldn't see her face, but I could tell that she was smiling.

"Because I like living dangerously," she replied, sarcasm pasted on every word. "Honestly though, I'm a doctor. I'd never leave an injured pedestrian for dead."

"How noble," I teased with more hostility than sarcasm.

"Aren't I?" she joked back. "Here, I made you some egg-drop soup."

I felt the girl put her hands on me again, much to my displeasure. She lifted me up and laid me against the wooden board of the bed. That was when I got a good look at her.

She was beautiful, to be sure. Flawless in every way. She had a tan complexion. Her chocolate brown hair was amazingly braided on both sides of her head. Her brown eyes sparkled as she looked at me, making me feel a little awkward.

However, my motto still stood: the prettier the face, the uglier the heart. That didn't seem to be the case for her, though. She had the decency to patch me up, even though she knew exactly who I was. Her eyes remained genuine whenever she looked at me. Piper McLean seemed like an exception from my motto.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and dipped the spoon into the warm soup. It smelled unbelievably good. At best, the greatest meal I had was a loaf of bread filled with butter. This soup was putting that sandwich to shame.

She scooped a spoonful up and blew into it to cool it down. I looked at her carefully, seeing if she was going to add poison or not.

She gently put the spoon next to my mouth as she smiled. "Open up."

I reluctantly followed her orders. The soup was starting to make my mouth water, and she could see the lust I had in my eyes.

"Don't worry, I made a whole batch," Piper reassured. She slowly placed the spoon into my mouth, and my mind exploded as I savored the taste.

Never in my life had I eaten anything so good. Ever. This was a hundred times better than my dreams.

Eventually, Piper spoon-fed me the last drop of soup. She smiled at me and asked me whether or not I wanted more. I politely declined.

"Just sleep here tonight, okay?" Piper said. I just nodded. She smiled and left the bed, tapping the light switch as she left. In no time at all, the room was dark.

I was not kidding when I say that I literally fell asleep the second she turned off the lights. The bed was better than my dusty-ass sofa by far. The blankets hugged me comfortably tight, and for once, I didn't smell rotten food and dead rodents as I fell into my first nightmare-less sleep.

**Annabeth **

3:43 PM.

My eyes kept darting toward the clock every five seconds. I needed to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. I needed to find Percy.

Was he okay? Did he read the newspaper? Countless questions stormed my mind as I tried to focus on my work.

I couldn't. Timed passed by slowly. Two minutes in real time felt like twenty minutes in my mind. At this rate, I'd go insane before my shift ended.

Luckily, my best friend - Piper McLean, who was a fellow doctor, came into sight. She smiled at me and waved me hello. I returned the favor as I walked over to her.

"Hey, Annie," Piper greeted as she hugged me. I gladly returned the hug. When we broke apart, Piper wasted no time as she spoke.

"So, how's Luke?" she asked me with a wink. My cheeks reddened as I tried to come up with a witty comeback. However, my thoughts were interrupted when I saw the stern face she started to bear.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her, legit concern in my voice.

"Annabeth, be honest with me," Piper asked me, a pout on her face. That wasn't a good sign. Piper pouting was never a good thing.

"Of course," I replied.

"Did Percy Jackson really molest you?" she asked me. That was a question I had half expected. The news was spreading everywhere. Facebook, media journalists, and rumors were quickly spreading the news that Percy had harassed me when he obviously didn't.

"No," I replied calmly. I furrowed my brow as I looked at her.

"Well…" Piper started to say as she nervously rubbed her shoulder.

"You don't believe me?" I asked. She wildly shook her head.

"Of course I believe you!" she replied hastily, bringing a smile to my face. "It's just that, well…"

"You can tell me anything, remember?" I reassured her. "We're best friends, right?"

Piper pursed her lip. I could tell that she was still reluctant to tell me. That worried me deeply.

"I found Percy near death yesterday," Piper began to explain. My jaw dropped, and before I knew it, I grabbed her harshly by both shoulders.

"What? Where is he?" Is he okay? Who hurt him?" I bombarded her with questions.

"He's not okay, Annabeth," Piper replied. "As I said, he was beaten near death. I did all I could to patch him up yesterday. I fed him and gave him my guest room to sleep in."

"Do you know who did this to him?" I asked her, my heart starting to throb for Percy.

"I can't think of anybody else but your fans, Annie," Piper replied, sorrow and sympathy written all over her face.

What have I done? Why did I have to play Uno with him? If only I just left after I gave him his cancer diagnostics, he wouldn't be in this mess.

I mentally slapped myself in the face, and Piper could see that I was starting to blame myself.

"Annie, calm down," she reassured, rubbing my shoulders. "It's not your fault, okay?"

"Yes it is!" I whimpered as tears poured out of my eyes. "I did this to him! I befriended him! I had to try tease him into chasing me! It was all my fault!"

Piper brought me into a tight hug, one that I returned without hesitation. She began to pat my back similarly to how I patted Percy the other day.

"If you want to see him, he's at my house," I heard her whisper. "After we're done with our shift, we'll both go see him, okay?"

I just nodded when I realized that words failed me. For the rest of the day, I dreaded what Percy's reaction to me was going to be like. Would he hate me?

~0~

**Percy**

My eyes slowly opened to an unfamiliar environment. It took me a while, but after I got rid of my drowsiness, I remembered that I was at Piper's house.

As I got up, I took a quick glance at the clock. It read 5:20 PM. I never had a clock, so I couldn't really understand what the numbers nor PM meant. Was 5:20 PM near midday? Near the evening?

I just gave up since trying to understand the numbers gave me a headache. I got up, which was unbearably painful, and awkwardly waltzed over to the closed window. Opening the curtains, I noticed that the sun was still out. However, the sky had an orange tint to it, signifying that the day was late in the afternoon.

Then something hit me. I forgot to brush my teeth last night! Tripping three times, I eventually made it to the bathroom. An intoxicating lavender scent was roaming the air. I inhaled deeply. I never smelt anything so delicate in my whole entire life.

Then another thought struck me. I didn't have my toothbrush. There was only one toothbrush that was obviously Piper's. I'll admit, I was tempted to use it, but I didn't want to be rude to my savior.

In the end, I just squeezed a lob of toothpaste on my index finger and started brushing my teeth with it. Insecured about missing a night without brushing my teeth, I swabbed my "diamonds" for twenty minutes straight. My index finger started to get sore, but I had to man up.

After I rinsed my mouth with water, I saw a large bottle of Listerine. Popping the cap open, I poured it into my mouth, making sure that my lips didn't touch it.

After rinsing and swishing for two minutes, I spit it out in the sink and washed it away with water.

Satisfied with myself, I was about to leave the bathroom until I saw the shower.

I was tempted. Very tempted. I never took a shower before (yeah, gross, isn't it?). My hair was greasy, my body smelt like dog piss, and dirt covered nearly all of my body. I wondered how dirty I made Piper's bed.

I decided it couldn't possibly hurt to take a shower. I'm sure Piper would rather have me dirty her shower than dirty her whole entire house.

I stepped into the shower, stripping my clothes away. I decided to bring them into the showers, too, since Piper probably didn't have any boy clothes.

The feeling of clean, warm water gave me a pleasurable sensation. It felt good on my skin. My bandages got soaked and my scrapes and burns stung under the water, but overall, it felt really good.

I then found a bottle of shampoo. It seemed as though it was for boys and girls. I squeezed a large quantity of the shampoo and rubbed my hair with it. The foam tickled my finger and slowly fell down my face.

Washing the shampoo away, I found Piper's body wash. It was obviously for girls. It was pink and had a cherry aroma irradiating off of it.

Deciding that I didn't give a damn, I squeezed the bottle tightly and rubbed it all around my body. Washing it all away, I took my clothes off of the shelf and squeezed more body soap onto it. I rubbed it together roughly, washing away all of the dirt and grime.

When I was satisfied, I turned off the water and stepped out. Then something else hit me.

What would I dry myself with? A single purple towel was dangling off of the shelf, most likely Piper's.

I decided that since I was already plenty clean, it wouldn't really matter. So I picked up her towel and dried my body with it.

I put on my wet clothes and left the bathroom. My clothes would eventually dry over time, but for now, I was hungry.

I felt bad for taking advantage of Piper when she saved my life, but hunger was hunger. I went to her kitchen and opened up every door and cabinet I found.

I luckily stumbled across a big bag of chips. I didn't know what it was, but it sure as hell looked good.

The label read "Doritos", whatever the hell that was. It was half full, but it was enough to satisfy me.

I plopped down on Piper's sofa, which was still fully intact. I opened the bag and gouged myself with the rest of the chips. When I finished, I looked over to a clock. 6:03 PM, it read.

Right as I scoffed at my inability to read time, the door opened. I was instinctively tempted to throw the empty bag behind the sofa, but I intruded in Piper's hospitality too much already.

Piper's smiling face emerged from the door. I just awkwardly smiled back. I wasn't used to that kind of thing yet. Then I saw the person behind her and felt like jumping out of the window.

Annabeth.

**Annabeth**

Percy.

The way he looked at me didn't help the guilt I felt. He stared at me as though he saw a ghost. I saw his feet shift, which told me that he wanted to run away.

I also noticed that he had bruises on nearly every corner of his body. I molded my hand into a fist. I was angry. We were just having fun yesterday. Why couldn't God let him off with a warning or something?

But what I noticed the most was how new he looked. He wasn't that messy slob I saw yesterday. His hair was still ruffled a bit, but in a good way. His face was cleared from all dust and grime, which brought out his eyes even more.

I wouldn't have called him "hot", per say, but he was definitely very handsome, although kind of scrawny.

I felt like an idiot when I grew red just by looking at him. I shook that thought away as I remembered that I had a handsomer future husband.

"Percy, you look amazing!" Piper piped up. I found myself almost nodding before I stopped myself.

He still stared at me. At this point, I just got annoyed. Why didn't he say anything?

He finally stopped looking at me and turned over to Piper instead. He gave her a weak smile before staring at the ground.

"Um, Piper? Can I have a word alone with Percy?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said back at me. "I'll go change." She gave Percy one last smile before leaving to her room.

When she was out of earshot, I nervously sat down next to Percy. I noticed him shifting uncomfortably in his seat, but said nothing.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. As soon as those words came out, I felt like hurling myself off of a cliff. Of course he wasn't feeling well! He was beat near death! Stupid me…

"I'm fine," he lied. I shook my head at his lame attempt to sway the truth from me.

"Percy, don't lie to me," I told him. He gave me a demeaning look, but said nothing.

"Percy, what do you want me to do?" I asked him. I was starting to heat up for no absolute reason. "You act as though I did this to you."

"You did, albeit unintentionally," Percy answered. He pursed his lips. "Annabeth, we can't be hang together anymore."

"Don't be like this, Percy," I begged him. I was being honest. Something about Percy had brought out my hidden side – the side that had been submerged since I was fifteen years old. I wanted to feel that feeling again.

"That's easy for you to say," he answered, his voice getting louder. "You aren't the one who had your knees nearly smashed. You aren't the one who had your shoulders dislocated. I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand."

I took a deep breath in order to prevent myself from getting angry at the words 'someone like you'. "How about this? I have an appointment to show up on The Brown Show next week. It's a very popular TV show. Once I get on there and as soon as I get a chance, I'll tell everybody the truth, okay? I'll also tell them that you're actually a really nice and cool guy. Deal?" I offered.

I felt like I had accomplished something when I saw Percy's dashing grin.

"Deal," he agreed. "But, uh, we still shouldn't hang out yet. At least not until next week."

"No, no, no," I replied. "We're hanging out every day until next week. You don't get a say in this, Seaweed Brain."

I saw him sigh sarcastically. "Annabeth, I really don't want to be seen in public right now. I'll get beat up again!"

"Then they won't see you…Gene Johnson," I replied, a devilish smirk on my face.

~0~

**Percy**

"What the **fuck **did you make me wear all of this shit for?" I cursed, pointing at my oversized coat and large cowboy hat. Annabeth just laughed before answering.

"You don't want to be seen as Percy Jackson. So keep your head down under these gigantic clothes and you'll be fine…Gene," she said with a wink.

I winked back at her mockingly. "Alright, alright. So, where are we headed?"

"I was hoping you'd suggest a location," she said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Why so nice all of the sudden, Wise Girl?" I teased with a smirk.

"I've always been," she said with her chin held up high. "Answer my question."

I thought about it for a while. Where did I want to go? What did I want to do? As I came to a decision, a grin grew on my face. Annabeth saw me and raised a brow in confusion.

"The ice cream vendor!" I screamed excitedly.

"Don't tell me you've never had ice cream," she asked me, shocked.

"Do I look like I have the money to afford an ice cream?" I asked her as I pulled out my pockets to show her that it was empty.

"Then what are we waiting for? We need to get you an ice cream pronto!" she smiled as she led the way to her car.

The car ride was surprisingly very chatty. I don't think I even had a second to breathe. We talked nearly nonstop the whole way there. Our conversation somehow went from the events of the previous day to turtles.

"We're here," Annabeth said as she pulled over her car. We both got out and saw a group of little kids buying ice cream. Without Annabeth, I headed over there first. I took a look at the sign and saw a bunch of enticing flavors ranging from vanilla to chocolate chip.

My mouth began to water as Annabeth arrived from behind me. The vendor recognized Annabeth immediately.

"Ah, Dr. Chase!" the vendor said with a smile. "Looking to buy ice cream, are you?"

"Yes sir," Annabeth replied with a smile. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw the vendor's cheeks turn red.

"What would you like?" the vendor asked Annabeth. It seemed as though he didn't realize that I was there.

"Percy, what do you want?" Annabeth asked me as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I almost jumped at her touch. Physical contact with other humans was still a no-no in my book.

As I gently removed her hand, I just picked something random.

"I want an Oreo Sundae," I replied to her. She merely nodded before turning towards the vendor.

"What he said," she told the vendor. He looked at me for the first time that day.

"Friend of yours, Dr. Chase?" he asked Annabeth. I was surprised when she said "yes" without hesitation.

"He's dressed kind of weird for the summer, isn't he?" the vendor joked.

'_Yeah,' _I thought in my head. _'A Wise Girl chose this sexy outfit for me.' _

"Would you like two separate cups?" the vendor asked us. I was about to say yes before Annabeth cut me off.

"We'll share one," Annabeth answered him in my stead. I looked over at her with a pouting face. I wanted one ice cream for myself…

"Here you go," the vendor said, handing Annabeth a single cup filled to the brim with the Oreo Sundae. "As usual, no payment needed."

"Thanks, Bill," Annabeth smiled. She took the cup out of the vendor's hands and gestured me to follow her. She got us two spoons and we found ourselves sitting at a water fountain together.

"Here you go," Annabeth said as she handed me a spoon. "Enjoy!"

"Why'd you only get one?" I asked, still depressed about not getting my own cup. She flicked my head when she saw my disappointment.

"I'm not going to eat much," she told me as she dug her spoon into the cup. She placed the spoon into her mouth. "I like to keep my figure."

"You mean you like being this fat?" I joked. She gave me a death glare and slapped me on the back of the head.

"Frickin' Seaweed Brain," she murmured before digging back into the ice cream.

Wasting no further time, I scooped a big chunk of the sundae and slowly stuffed it into my mouth. As soon as the sundae hit my tongue, my eyes widened. Annabeth anticipated this, and she took a picture of my reaction with her phone. I didn't notice.

"This…" I began to say, but I found no words. Words couldn't describe the phenomenal sensation I felt. My only answer was sticking my spoon into the cup and scooping another chunk of the sundae.

"You'll probably think I'm weird, but do you want to know something?" Annabeth asked me. I looked over at her and noticed that she didn't meet my eyes. It looked as though she was shy.

"What?" I asked her as I continued to eat the sundae.

"I like to let the ice cream melt and then eat it then," she told me, her eyes still looking somewhere else.

"Okay," I answered weirdly. "And how is that weird?"

"Well, theoretically, it's not, but when I told my future husband, Piper, and my mom that I liked my ice cream like that, they laughed at me."

"How do you melt the ice cream?" I asked. I was curious to try it out.

She looked at me brightly as a smile crept onto her face. "You really want to try it?"

"Sure," I replied. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"If you're sure, then help me stir the ice cream," Annabeth told me as she started stirring the ice cream. I saw the gleeful smile she had on her face, and I had to admit, my heart warmed up seeing her so happy. Without hesitation, I helped her stir.

In two minutes flat, the ice cream turned from chunky to a creamy complexion. I took a scoop and placed it into my mouth.

"Well?" Annabeth asked me. Her face had "nervous" written all over it.

"Does my opinion really matter?" I asked, chewing on the creamy substance.

"You don't like it, do you?" she said with a frown. "Now you probably think I'm weird."

"Honestly?" I asked her. She nodded her head. "I like this version a lot more than the chunky version."

As soon as I said that, Annabeth was positively glowing. Out of her excitement, she hugged me.

"Thank God you like it too! I thought I was the only one!" she exclaimed. Why did she keep on touching me? I just sat there, deciding whether or not I should push her away. Seeing as she was happy, I just let her be.

"You're still weird, though," I teased with a laugh. She laughed along with me as she playfully hit my shoulder. At first, I thought she really hit me, but then I remembered her saying that that was what friends did to each other.

"Aren't you getting a little overdramatic? It's just ice cream composure."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain!" she said, still laughing.

After a while, she suddenly pulled back, and when she looked at me, she was blushing. Then, she just stared me in the eye. We were about nose distance, and I could smell the sundae on her breath. She continued to look me in the eye as her face grew redder and redder.

I was just confused. Why was she so close to me? Why didn't she back away? Then I started to wonder why people always got red whenever they were close to each other.

Shocking me in the process, she started to lean in. Her eyes slowly closed and her lips slightly parted. What kind of ritual was she doing?

As our lips nearly grazed each other's, she backed away. Her face was even redder now. She refused to look me in the eye for some reason.

"Women," I scoffed. As I started to think about something else, something hit me. Normal life was amazing. The Oreo Sundae, Piper's egg-drop soup, her bed, her shower, her sofa, a friend life Annabeth. Everything. I suddenly craved all of that.

However, I knew that I didn't have a chance. My stomach cancer wouldn't give me that luxury. I almost felt like crying. What a life I missed, and to think that I had a chance to obtain it.

Then I had an idea. I grinned like a madman as it came across my mind. I turned over to Annabeth, who was even redder than before, and gently tapped her shoulder. She didn't turn around for some reason.

"Annabeth, can you help me with something?" I asked her. She probably detected the excitement in my tone, as she whirled around towards me, the redness draining from her face.

"What?" she asked me.

"Before I die, I want to do a few things," I replied.

"Like what?"

By the next twelve minutes, we came up with ten ideas. Annabeth wrote them all down on her phone. The title was called: Things To Do Before Cancer Takes Me.

The list was as follows:

1 – Watch one movie from every genre.

2 – Visit King's Dominion.

3 – Eat at a fancy restaurant.

4 – Make a male best friend.

5 – Make a female best friend (completed)

6 – Go camping.

7 – Make a change in the world.

8 – Find something to brag about.

9 – Get my first kiss.

The last one was probably the strongest one out of the ten.

10 – Die without regrets.

**A/N: This was a very hard chapter for me to right, mainly because I couldn't decide whether or not to make Annabeth a selfish bitch in this chapter. If you like what you've seen so far, please do me a favor and favorite, follow, and review. **

**Jabba out. **


	5. Movie Marathon

**A/N: I really didn't want to write this chapter today. I wanted to take a little break. However, seeing as I got quite a few reviews a night ago, I feel like I'm obligated to write this next chapter for you guys today lol. Thanks everybody! **

**Annabeth **

"Can someone pass the salt?" I asked to anybody willing.

"Here you go, sweetheart," Luke answered, handing me the salt shaker. I smiled at him in gratitude as I took the salt shaker from his hands.

"So, how was work, dear?" my mom asked me as she picked up a few strands of pasta with her fork. I just shrugged and made something up.

"Great," I lied. I didn't want to tell my family about Percy. At least not yet.

My mom nodded and looked over to my brother, Malcolm. She asked him the same question, and he replied exactly like I did.

"Luke, sweetie, how about you?" my mom asked him. He was the only person at the dinner table who actually had something to say about his job.

"Today, I had a patient who was diagnosed with cancer. Stomach cancer, to be exact. He had genomoltic tumors in his abdominal area," he answered.

I nearly spit out my pasta in painful shock. Malcolm noticed me flinch, but acted as though nothing happened.

"Oh, that's horrible!" my mom gasped in horror.

"Yeah, he only has one year left to live at max," Luke explained.

"Wait," my dad piped up out of his silence. "Annabeth, didn't you say that whore Percy Jackson was diagnosed with cancer as well?"

I clenched my fist tightly underneath the table so that nobody could see me.

"Yeah," I muttered, trying to suppress my boiling anger.

"Good riddance, I say," my mom said. I gritted my teeth as I resisted the urge to throw something at my parents.

"I know, right?" Luke agreed. I felt like leaving the table. "He even had the guts to assault you, Annabeth!"

"I told you already, he didn't assault me!" I said back a little louder than I anticipated.

"Annabeth, why are you trying to defend him?" he asked me back just as loud. "I know you're trying to be a nice Samaritan and all, but you can't take the blame for a scumbag like him!"

I refused to just sit there and hear them insult Percy like that. I stood up from my seat and stormed off to my room.

"Annabeth Chase, sit back down here!" I heard my father scream at me commandingly. I didn't listen. I continued to stomp up the steps. When I got into my room, I slammed the door behind me and fell down on my bed.

'_Who are they to judge him?' _I thought furiously. _'They don't even know him!' _

I decided to call Piper. Having a chat with my best friend should reduce my dangerously high temper. I took my cell phone from my counter and dialed Piper's number. It took a while before the receiving end picked up.

"Hello?" a masculine voice spoke.

"Percy?" I asked, surprised and relieved to hear his voice. I reminded myself to whisper, seeing as my family still treated him like trash.

"Who is this?" the voice spoke. I laughed and Percy immediately recognized me.

"Oh shit, it's the Wise Girl," he said with fake horror. I wished he was here with me so that I could punch him.

"Uh, no it's not," I said in a lower tone, trying to trick him into thinking that I was another person. It didn't work.

"You can't fool me, Chase. Your obnoxious laugh is unique," he said. I didn't know whether or not that was a compliment or an insult.

"I guess you're not too much of a Seaweed Brain after all," I teased. I heard him laugh from the other end, making me smile as he did.

"So, what's going on over at your house?" I heard him ask me. I told him everything me and my family said at the dinner table. He listened patiently and didn't once interrupt me.

When I finished, I heard him laugh, although it was very, very weak. It almost sounded fake and forced. "I can't really say I'm surprised," he said.

"I'm so sorry, Perce," I said genuinely. "I tried to tell them, but they wouldn't listen. They thought I was covering up for you."

"Seriously, it's okay," Percy replied. "I'm used to this kind of thing. It doesn't really bother me. Besides, I don't give two shits about your family. I only care about you."

I felt my heart warm up the instant he said that. "Aren't you a caring one?" I teased, trying to bite back my flushing.

"But of course!" I heard him brag. "I care about all of my minions!"

"Screw you, Percy," I accused with a laugh. He laughed too before he suddenly stopped abruptly.

"Hey, I gotta go," I heard him say to my disappointment.

"Where do you have to go?" I asked him with a tone of depression. He didn't seem to notice, though.

"Piper's making me take a bath," he said with a groan. "I swear, she's like the mom I never had."

"Or the nagging older sister you never had," I added in as a joke.

"Don't worry, I already have you in that position," he taunted. I blinked to myself before I attempted to insult him back. Unfortunately, he had to go for real that time.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Annabeth," he said.

"We're still starting with the first thing on your list tomorrow, right?" I asked full of hope.

"Definitely," he said, hanging up. I just scoffed. Couldn't he have said bye?

I placed my phone back on the counter as I laid back, my thoughts in preparation for the next day. What movies should we watch? How long will watching one movie of each genre take? I knew one thing for sure, though. I had a full schedule tomorrow.

Scaring the living life out of me, I noticed a silhouette emerging from my door. I looked over there to see Malcolm staring at me.

"Malcolm!" I screamed out, scared that he heard my conversation. "How long have you been there?"

He just stared at me with an uninterested expression on his face. I was about to go push him out before he spoke up.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," he said with a slight nod. I looked at him in disbelief. We weren't close at all. We were strangers at best. Why would he help me by hiding my secret?

He walked over to me and sat on the edge of my bed. He stared at his hands as the aura of intense awkwardness surrounded us. I just stared at my blanket in order to lessen the weird feeling.

"Look," he started to say. "I know we haven't had the best brother/sister relationship possible, but I'd really like to."

I raised my head up to meet his gaze. His eyes told me that he was sincere with his words.

"Why now?" I asked him softly. "Why do you want it now, when we're all grown up? It's kind of late, don't you think?"

"I didn't know how to be your brother when we were younger," he admitted with great effort. "You were independent all of your life, so I couldn't really interact or play with you. You were also almost perfect in every way, so there really wasn't anything to tease you with. I…I just didn't know what to do."

I remained silent, which cued him to continue.

"Today was the first time you showed weakness by talking to your new 'friend'," he explained, putting a firm tone on the word "friend". "In other words, today is my first chance to start bonding with you."

I looked at him, my brow furrowing on its own. "And how is blackmailing me with that information 'bonding'?"

"I'm not going to threaten you with the information, Annie," he said with a smile. That was the first time he sincerely smiled at me. In the past, he faked his smile, which was obvious, in order to be nice to me. But this time, he smiled for real. And to me!

"You're…not?" I asked, still unfamiliar with the "new" Malcolm.

"Nope," he replied. "I just want to show you that you can keep your secrets with me. As I brother, I vow to never reveal your secret. I really want to start bonding with you, Annie. This has been long overdue. So, what do you say?"

I stared at him for a while, and I could tell that it was making him uncomfortable. Then, I grinned. It was probably the biggest grin I had shown to another person. He saw me and raised his brow in confusion.

I pulled him into a hug, something that I never had the chance to do with him in the past. "I love you, Malcolm."

He was seemingly too shocked to move for a second, but I eventually felt his hands on my back. "I love you too, sis."

**Percy **

As I came out of the bathroom all cleaned up, I saw Piper making dinner. The smell was unsurprisingly good. I sneaked up behind her and stared into the pan. She was making some sorted of sautéed chicken meal I had never seen before. But then again, I hadn't seen **anything** sautéed before.

Piper turned around to grab something and literally jumped when she saw me behind her.

"Percy!" she exclaimed as she placed her hand over her heart. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I wasn't trying to," I explained innocently. "I just wanted to see what that fabulous smell was."

It might have sounded like I was trying to kiss up to her, but that wasn't the case. The smell really was fabulous.

Piper seemed to have forgotten that I unintentionally scared her and smiled. "Trying to muck up to your benefactor, are we?"

"Would that get me another plate of that chicken?" I joked. Piper laughed loudly. I guess I was just naturally funny.

"You're going to have to eat a lot today," Piper told me as she grabbed the pepper shaker from behind me. "You're too skinny, Percy."

"I thought being skinny was everybody's dream," I asked her. I had a fitness magazine a few years ago detailing how people liked to be skinny. Did the style change or something when I wasn't looking?

"That may be true, but you're too skinny!" Piper berated me. She pointed to my forearm and fingers. "Look at you! You're a living stick!"

"Am I a cute stick?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yes you are—" Piper said before she stopped herself. Then she reddened up. Goddamn, what was with girls and turning red all the time?

She cleared her throat and resumed cooking. "Hey, do you mind taking the plates and cups out of my cabinet?"

"Sure," I answered. I opened the cabinet labeled "_Plates and Cups_" and grabbed all of the plates and cups. "How many do you need?"

"One for each of us," she replied. "Can you be a sweetheart and place it down on the table?"

I nodded and proceeded to the dinner table. I placed a single plate and cup on each side of the table. I returned to the kitchen and smirked.

"Am I a sweetheart now?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

Piper rolled her eyes, a smile forming on her lips. "The sweet-iest."

Ten minutes later, our plates were filled with steaming delicacies. As I sat down, I noticed how well organized Piper made the food. Whenever I ate something, I just shoved it down my throat without a care for the design. This was the first time I ever saw a well-designed dish, and I had to admit, it made my appetite skyrocket.

"Dig in," Piper said. As if on cue, as soon as she said that, I dug into the mashed potatoes and nearly had a mouth orgasm.

"Jesus…Christ…"I moaned under my breath. Piper looked at me, trying to figure out whether or not I liked it.

"Is it good?" she asked. I didn't verbally answer. I just stuffed more of the food into my mouth, and Piper took that as a yes.

"So," I said with a mouthful. "How did you meet Annabeth?"

Piper smiled as she told me. "Annabeth and I were childhood sisters. We met during preschool. We did nearly everything together. If she brought peanut butter sandwiches to lunch, I would too. If she needed to go to the bathroom, I would too." She giggled to herself. "I think we both fell in love with the same guy back in middle school."

"Who's the unlucky guy?" I teased. She smirked at me.

"It was you, Percy Jackson," she mocked. "We've always admired how dirty and grimy you were."

"Genetics," I replied with a grin. In a lot of ways, she was similar to Annabeth. Both of them were actually nice to me, even though they knew who I was. They both had that tint of sarcasm that made them entertaining to be around. I guess some people really can be genuinely nice.

"More corn?" Piper asked with an amused look.

**Annabeth**

I knocked on Piper's front door, awaiting a reply. Today was the day to cross off idea number one on Percy's bucket list. I brought over all of the movies I could find at my house. I didn't have any action or horror movies, so I had to go to Blockbuster in order to rent some.

I stared at the pile of movies in my hand and smiled to myself. This was going to be the most fun thing I've done in a while. I took a day off from work that day in preparation for this movie spree.

When I heard the door unlock, I snapped out of my thoughts. I saw Piper's face as the door fully opened.

"Hi there, Piper!" I greeted with a grin. She grinned back at me.

"Here for your movie marathon with Percy, are you?" Piper asked with a wink. I just stuck my tongue out at her.

As I entered the apartment, I noticed that Percy was fast asleep on the sofa, a pink blanket wrapped around him like a cocoon. Surprisingly, he didn't snore. He seemed rather gentle when he slept.

"Did you make him sleep on the sofa overnight or something?" I asked her as I raised my brow in amusement.

"No, he just fell asleep like ten minutes ago. He told me to wake him up when you got here," she answered as she put on her jacket.

I sat down next to Percy and brushed his hair away from his face. Even when he was hated by nearly all of New York, he still smiled as he slept. Seeing him smile like that made me smile myself. Piper noticed this and giggled a bit.

"Well, I'm off to the hospital," Piper told me. I looked at her and nodded.

She waved me and the sleeping Percy goodbye and headed out the door. I turned back to Percy. I went to nudge his shoulder, but stopped abruptly when I heard him call out my name.

"Annabeth…" he mumbled in his sleep. A bigger smile slowly crept onto his face. Thank God he wasn't awake. Otherwise, he'd notice me heavily blush. My insides felt all fuzzy when I heard him call out my name. How come Luke never made me feel this way?

I loved Luke above everybody else in this world, but Percy was slowly becoming very important to me. It was getting to the point where I couldn't imagine life without him.

Then I remembered the cancer he had and made a mental note to myself. I shouldn't get too close to him. Otherwise, when cancer takes him away from me, I'd be a shell of my former self.

I felt Percy stir from his sleep as he turned the other way. Then he started mumbling something else.

"Piper…" he mumbled. My heart fell when I heard him say that. Was I…jealous? No, I couldn't have been. Luke was the love of my life. There was no reason to get jealous. However, I still couldn't deny the angst and confusion I was feeling.

"Annabeth?" I heard Percy say. "You're here already?"

I snapped my head towards direction and saw him looking at me groggily. He rubbed his eyes to rub off the drowsiness.

"Yeah, I'm here," I told him with a smile.

"And you didn't wake me?" Percy asked me in a serious manner. I just remained silent. What was I going to say? That I was staring at him in his sleep?

His eyes suddenly darted towards the movies in my hands, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked me. "Let's start the movies!"

"I was waiting for you to wake up, Seaweed Brain," I insulted. Regardless, I stood up and inserted _Monster's University_ into the DVD player. I tossed the DVD case into Percy's hands. He looked at it and gave me a quizzical look.

"We're watching a kids movie?" he asked me as he scratched the top of his head.

"Every genre, right?" I quoted from the list. Since he was quiet, I assumed that I had won the rather trivial argument. I plopped down next to Percy and tried to locate the TV remote. I looked over to see the remote in Percy's hands.

He was staring at the remote as if it was the most confusing thing in the world.

"How do you use this infernal contraption?" he asked me as he pressed all of the buttons randomly. I shook my head before taking the remote out of his hands.

"Not all TV remotes are the same," I lectured. "As for this particular remote, do you see this red button here?"

He nodded.

"This is the power button. This is how you turn the TV off and on."

He stared at the remote without saying anything. Then a happy grin appeared on his face.

"Can I try it?" he asked me excitedly. I smiled and gave him the remote. He quickly turned towards the TV and pressed the button slowly.

When the TV turned on, Percy had wide eyes. He smiled hugely to himself and pressed the button again. Corresponding to its master, the TV turned off. Percy looked at me and I could see the blaring ecstasy in his eyes.

"This is so cool!" Percy exclaimed. He was mildly jumping up and down in his seat.

"If you think that's cool, wait until you play video games," I said with a sarcastic wink.

"Let's start the movie now, Chase!" Percy exclaimed. I took the remote from his hands (to which he frowned) and turned the TV back on. When I switched to the DVD cable, the characters Sully and Mike appeared on the screen.

I hit play and sat back. The intro was rather slow and dull, in my opinion. Then again, all intros were slow in my mind. They were intros. The real meat and bones of the movie was probably twenty to thirty minutes away.

I felt Percy tap on my shoulder and turned around to meet his gaze. He pointed to the blanket and asked me if I was cold.

I would have said no, but in all honesty, Piper's house was like a gigantic refrigerator. My hands were starting to numb, and as I felt my cheeks, I noticed that it was chilly as well.

I nodded and smiled my thanks. And there we were, two close friends sitting together under a blanket. The blanket was pretty small in size, so we had to scoot close to each other in order for the blanket to fully wrap both of us.

I could feel Percy's body heat warm me up. Either that, or because being so close to Percy made my cheeks turn red.

I evaluated Percy for the entire duration of the movie. I noticed that he laughed a lot, even at the parts that really wasn't funny. He also got very melodramatic too, which was weird since the movie wasn't really that sad. I think he was close to tears at one point. Then again, this was his first movie.

Eventually, the movie ended. I turned to Percy, who was way too intrigued in the movie, and asked him what he thought about it.

"This is my favorite movie," he replied with a grin.

"You've only watched one movie, Seaweed Brain!" I laughed. He shamefully rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't say anything back.

"Alright, the next one is a horror movie called _The Thing_," I told him. "Now, let me warn you ahead of time. I'm scared of horror movies that have supernatural beings in them, okay? I **will **scream a lot. I won't be able to help myself. Deal?"

**Percy**

She wasn't kidding when she said she screamed a lot. In fifteen minutes alone, she screamed six times. Six!

The movie itself had a ton of horror elements, of course, but none of them scared me in the slightest. Sure, my heart stopped for a split second when something popped out at me, but that was it. Nothing really "scared" me.

I guess that was because I already lived in a horror movie. You could call me the head actor. The movie title is called "Earth", starring me and my costar, genomoltic tumor.

What I'm trying to say is that my life had already been hell. I've seen the worst humanity had to offer. The slums of New York have the greatest vantage point when it came to scoping out the sick and twisted assholes of this world.

Nearly halfway through the movie, something "scary" happened that made Annabeth scream and freak out. She was so scared that she almost literally dove into my chest. She grabbed onto my shirt collar as though it was the only thing standing between her and death.

The "scary" moment continued for quite a while, and at the climax of the scene, Annabeth screamed a scream that temporarily broke my hearing. Annabeth latched her arms around my neck tightly, her head still on my chest.

I really wanted to push her off. She was getting **way **too deep into my personal space. Physical contact was still considered taboo to me. However, I decided against the urge, seeing as she was scared out of her mind.

I felt her tense when I started rubbing her back, similarly to how she rubbed mine a few days ago. Ironic, isn't it?

I gently swayed my hand back and forth down her back. I could feel her heart thumping rapidly. It was probably from the movie.

"We can stop this movie if you want, Wise Girl," I whispered in her ear. I felt and saw goosebumps on her neck when I said that. I noticed that she didn't answer me.

"Annabeth?" I whispered again.

**Annabeth**

Oh God, what was I feeling? Why did this feel so good? The way his hand went down my back conjured butterflies in my stomach.

Luke had done this method to me a long time ago, back during our college years. We were watching a scary movie, and I latched onto Luke like I did with Percy. However, the way his rough hands rubbed my hair and back made me even more scared.

Percy's touch was different. It was gentle and soothing. It had the power to release me from all of my burdens.

"Annabeth?" I heard him say in my ear. I broke my train of thought and looked up to Percy. When I met his gorgeous green eyes, I felt as though we were out by the fountain, eating an Oreo Sundae together. That was when I tried to kiss him.

I suddenly felt the urge to do it again, and unwillingly, I felt myself leaning closer to him.

I mentally berated myself for trying to make a move on him when I was engaged, but you really couldn't blame me. Blame Percy for being so goddamn enticing.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?" he whispered. I ignored him as I felt my lips graze his. I really wanted to lean in and kiss him, but I couldn't. I couldn't do that to Luke. Luke loved me, and regardless of what I felt for Percy, I loved Luke, too.

I backed away from Percy's lip for the second time that week. I felt like cheeks burning up, and I avoided Percy's gaze.

Without saying anything, I left. I heard Percy call my name, but I ignored him. I couldn't stay around Percy any longer. The longer I stayed with him, the higher my risk of betraying Luke. There was only one way to prevent that.

I'm sorry, Percy, but you're going to have to continue your list without me. This is the last time we'll meet.

**A/N: I normally ask for reviews because I like having them, but this time, I really need one. This chapter was difficult for me, and I'm not sure whether or not I did well. I think that this chapter is sloppy. If you guys are willing, please tell me whether or not this chapter was enjoyable. Thanks. **

**Jabba out. **


	6. Cutting Loose Ties

**Annabeth **

_You have a new voicemail! _

That was the consistent message that blared on my cell phone for the past five days. How many had I received? 138? I lost count a long time ago.

They were all from Percy, minus a few from Piper on Percy's behalf. I listened to all of them, and hearing Percy's voice did nothing more than internally destroy me.

"_Um hey, Piper just bought me an Oreo Sundae, and I was wondering if you wanted to share it with me,"_ one voicemail said.

"_Are you mad at me?" _

"_Annabeth! Did I do something wrong?" _

"_Can you please tell me what I did wrong? I really want to apologize!" _

"_Do you really hate me now?" _

His most recent voicemail left a denture so deep in my heart that I felt as though I was going to need open heart surgery.

"_Happy one week anniversary, Wise Girl. I miss you." _

Tears poured down my cheeks as I tightly clenched my blanket. I reached for another tissue, but then I remembered that I had used all of it already.

I put down my phone on the counter top and headed towards the closet in order to get a new box of tissue. I blatantly heard my door open and hurriedly wiped my eyes as much as possible. I took a deep breath and turned around to find Malcolm standing there.

I tried my best to look normal, but Malcolm was no fool. His eyes were filled with pity and sympathy as he stared into my soul.

"Hey," I said as stable as I could. "Do you need something?"

He still looked at me tensely. I directed my gaze towards the wall behind him so that I didn't' get the urge to cry.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go hang with me at King's Dominion," Malcolm said coolly. I took one last deep breath and looked at him with fake confidence.

"Sure," I said, faking a smile. Malcolm nodded but didn't seem convinced that I was okay.

"Well, I'll wait for you in the car. Come down when you're ready," Malcolm told me. I gave him a forced nod, one that he still didn't quite believe. He said nothing though and left my room.

I stepped into the bathtub and hoped that a refreshing shower would cleanse my burdens. It didn't. If anything, I thought about Percy more in the bathtub. My mind kept going back to his last voicemail.

"_Happy one week anniversary, Wise Girl. I miss you." _

I felt tears emerging from the corner of my eye, but wiped it away quickly. I couldn't live like that anymore. I had to forget about Percy.

As soon as I finished my unusually long shower, I stepped into my closet and grabbed a Hello Kitty tee shirt and some dark jeans.

I brushed and blow-dried my hair in the mirror. My reflection haunted me. Even after taking a renewing shower, I still looked tired and weary. My eyes and nose were puffed red, and my grey eyes reeked of depression.

I finished brushing my hair and stepped away from the mirror. I took my cell phone and jogged downstairs into the living room. Luke and my mom were talking about something. I didn't know what it was; I was too down to care.

Luke caught a glimpse of me and he gave me a bright smile. I put on a cosmetic smile and hoped that he wouldn't try to talk to me. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side.

"Annabeth!" Luke said with a grin. He gestured me over to the couch opposite of him and my mom. I reluctantly obeyed. When I sat down, every corner of the room fell silent. You could have heard a paperclip drop on the ground perfectly clear. My mom was the first one to speak up.

"Okay Annabeth," my mom started to say. "Admit it."

I looked at her weirdly. "Admit what?"

"What is the deal between you and Percy?" Luke answered for my mom. I tightened my grip on the armrest. Did Malcolm tell them?

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying my best to hide my gritted teeth.

My mom took a sip of her coffee before answering me. "Ever since he molested you, you've been acting strangely. You're temper at the dinner table spoke volumes. Now, we're hearing things about you being buddies with him. Tell us that that is not really true, Annabeth."

"Yeah, you're just befriending him because of his cancer, right?" Luke asked me.

I got mad at how they were talking about Percy as though he wasn't worth any more than the dirt on the bottom of their shoes. I was about to defend his honor, but then I remembered something.

I was trying to forget about Percy. The only way to prevent my family from bringing up Percy again was by falsely leading them to a different outcome. The longer I tried to defend him, the more my family will pester me. I had to end it all, and the only way to do that was by agreeing with them.

"That's right," I lied. Those two words hit me like a bullet as they were released from my mouth. "I was just pitying him because of his cancer. I wanted to show him some good before he died."

My anger skyrocketed when I heard both Luke and my mom breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," my mom had said with a relieved laugh. "We thought you actually befriended the boy."

"Leave it to Annabeth to care about the worst humanity has to offer, right?" Luke joked with my mom. I stood up and left to everybody's bewilderment. I was afraid that if I stayed any longer, I'd throw a tantrum that'd destroy the mansion.

I walked out of the front door and saw Malcolm badly jamming out to the song on his car radio. For the first time in five days, I smiled. He was so goofy when he was alone. He should bring out that side a lot more often. He needed to pull off his suave mask more.

Mask…Percy…

I shook my head, refusing to think about him. I walked down the stone steps towards Malcolm's car. When he saw me approaching, he scrambled to act normal again. It was too late, though.

"So, how did you enjoy that song?" I teased as I sat in the passenger's seat. He just scratched the back of his head and ignited the car engine.

"It was okay," he lied. I didn't realize that I had a smile plastered on my face until Malcolm gave me a quizzical look.

"Nice dance, by the way," I added. And there it was. Malcolm blushing. He was so adorable when he blushed. I wanted to pinch his cheeks so bad. So I did.

"Stop that!" he said as he swatted my finger away. I laughed, and though it took a while, he did too.

I really liked the new relationship I had with Malcolm. It felt really good to actually talk to one another for once. In the past, the most we'd say to each other was "hi" and "bye, and sometimes a "how are you doing?"

The car ride was filled with conversations varying from school to Jesus. It was fantastic, and to think it took us twenty five years to achieve it.

When we arrived at King's Dominion, the first thing we did together was ride the Ferris Wheel. I couldn't lie, I was scared of heights. That was apparent to Malcolm when he asked me to take pictures of the view and I hastily refused.

"Fine, you little chicken," he mocked as he pulled out the camera from my purse. "I'll do it."

"Try not to record me throwing up later, mkay?" I said. It was intended to be a joke, but I had a feeling that I'd puke sooner or later. Thankfully, I didn't.

"That'd be a good Facebook post," he said with a smirk. I kicked him in the shin softly, making him bellow in false pain.

After riding the Ferris Wheel, Malcolm suggested that we ride The Matrix. I immediately refused.

"Are you crazy?" I asked him. "I barely survived the frickin' Ferris Wheel! What makes you think I can ride a Level 5 ride?"

"No guts, no glory," he quoted. I rolled my eyes and tried to think of another activity to do. Malcolm beat me to it.

"How about we go on the water slide?" he suggested with a slight shrug. That didn't sound that bad, actually. But there was a problem.

"Malcolm, neither of us have our bathing suits with us," I pointed out. He merely smiled at me as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Remember what I said, sis?" he asked. When I looked at him dumbly, he answered, "No guts, no glory."

"Stop being so pessimistic," I said, lightly jabbing him on his chest. "Fine, let's go."

We headed towards the water slide, and from far away, it didn't look too scary. I kind of felt excited while I was waiting in line. That changed rather quickly. When it was our turn, I was about to chicken out.

"Uh, I changed my mind," I said as I awkwardly turned around, about to walk away. Malcolm held me by the shoulders and gave me a little shake.

"It's not so bad, Annie," he tried reassuring me. It did little to change my mind. "What are you afraid of anyway?"

I turned towards the water slide and looked into it. There was a stream of water flowing down rapidly inside of it. Looking at the outside of the water slide, I saw how many loops and curves it had and nearly pissed myself.

I was about to tell Malcolm that I really didn't want to go, but then I suddenly felt somebody push me. I screamed as I fell into the slide on my stomach. My body started following the format of the ride, and I looped and curved nauseously around it.

After my initial dilemma, I actually began to enjoy it. I started screaming, but not in horror. In joy. I flopped onto my back and started waving my hands into the air in happiness.

I was very disappointed when I fell into the pool. As I emerged from the water, I saw Malcolm gliding on the slide with a grin on his face. As he neared the bottom of the slide, he leaped from it and tackled me back into the water.

"Malcolm!" I said as I emerged from the water.

"Yes, Annie-Wanie?" he said with a puppy dog face. I splashed water on his face, and the shock he had on when it hit him was hilarious. He splashed water back in return, and I assumed that I had a pretty dumb face plastered onto me, seeing as Malcolm nearly died laughing.

That began an all-out water battle that lasted until nightfall.

~0~

"Here you go," Malcolm said as he gave me a strawberry cotton candy. I took it with gratitude and thanked him for it.

We sat there in comfortable silence for a while as we joyously ate our cotton candy. Spending a day with Malcolm was much more entertaining than I could have possibly dreamt of. I'm glad that Malcolm was now officially my brother. He was a brother I now loved to death.

"What's between you and Percy?" he asked me suddenly. I turned towards him in surprise. I then looked away and proceeded to eat my cotton candy.

I heard him sigh. "You don't have to tell me."

I turned towards him with a sad expression on my face. "Malcolm, I really want to tell you. I really do. But I want to forget all about him. Let…just leave it at that, okay?"

He looked up into the starry sky for a minute. I assumed that he was done talking. I was wrong.

"Piper called," he started to say. "She told me that Percy was on his way over to our house to apologize to you."

**Percy **

There I was, standing in front of Annabeth's mansion. Part of me felt jealous at how she was able to get a house this big, but I pushed the thought away. I was there to apologize to Annabeth, nothing more, nothing less.

I slammed on the door three times in a row. I didn't know if it was too loud or too quiet. This was the first time I knocked on a door, after all.

I heard a manly "coming!" from inside the house, so I just patiently stood there. The door finally opened, and I was greeted by a rather bulky man.

He was really handsome, to the point where I felt a little envious. He had dashing blonde hair and blue eyes that was as infinite as the ocean.

Looking deeper into his eyes, I saw something else. Something that was oddly familiar. Hate.

"You," the man had said with his teeth gritted. His body tensed, and I felt as though I was going to be jumped. I cleared my throat and stated my business.

"I'm here to see Annabeth Chase," I said firmly. I saw the man smirk, although it was a rather devilish one.

"Really?" the man said. "Why, so you can rape her some more?"

I bit back my anger and tried my best to civilize the rest of the conversation. "No, I'm here to apologize to—"

"Apologize, huh?" the man said with his arms crossed. "You think you can abuse my future wife and just apologize as if nothing happened?"

Future wife? She was engaged?

"Listen here. Stay away from my wife. Come near her again, and don't blame me for being rash."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he really just tell me to stay away from Annabeth?

"No," I merely said back. He straightened out his posture in attempt to intimidate me, but I shrugged it off.

"What did you say, punk?" he demandingly asked me. I didn't waver in the slightest.

"You heard me. I'm here to talk to Annabeth, so you can—"

I didn't register what happened next. One second I was telling the man off, and the next? A pain so hard etched across my right cheek that made me soar across the air. I landed in one of the many shrubs surrounding the mansion.

Before I could grab my face in pain, the man picked me up by my shirt collar.

"Listen here, punk," he whispered to me. "I don't understand what thing you have going on with my wife, but I'm warning you now. Stay the hell away from her. Besides, she hates you."

My eyes widened at him. At that moment, my heart ached even more than my face.

"You…I don't believe you," I stuttered. "Unless I hear it from Annabeth herself, I—"

"She told me today already!" Luke shouted at me. "She was only nice to you because you had cancer!"

I gaped at him. He was lying. He had to be!

"No, she wouldn't…" I murmured. He laughed at me.

"She's a doctor, you fool! She pities all of her patients! What, you think she actually became your friend? Yours?"

I stared at him. I knew what he was going to saw, albeit I didn't want to hear it.

"You two are on two different worlds, Jackson," he told me with an insulting smirk. "Annabeth is a star, an idol amongst doctors everywhere in the world. And you? You're not even fit to breathe the air she breathes."

I tried to push him off, but his strong grip proved too much for me.

"News flash, Jackson. You have no friends at all. You couldn't even find another hobo to become your friend, let alone Annabeth Chase."

I didn't want to hear anymore. I couldn't hear anymore. My right hand balled into a fist, a fist that slammed square into the man's jaw. It put him off guard, but that was it. It didn't seem as though it hurt him at all. He retaliated by sending his own fist into my stomach.

I doubled over in pain, and taking that to his advantage, the man roundhouse kicked me in the face. I flew face forward into the nearby tree.

"This is for Annabeth," the man said demonically as he approached me. I couldn't see what he was doing, but I felt the bottom of his shoe stomp on my leg. I howled out in pain. I could hear my bones shattering.

I grabbed my leg and rolled around in intense pain. I couldn't cry though. I couldn't shame myself any further.

What the man said did ring truth. Annabeth probably had a thousand patients in the past who suffered from cancer. Why was I special?

The answer was so obvious, yet immensely painful. She was just pitying me. I bet she went home every night scoffing at me in disgust. Why was I such a fool?

"Oh my God, Percy!" I heard somebody call out. I knew immediately who it was. I saw Annabeth run over and crouch down next to me. All I could do was stare at her with burning hatred in my eyes.

"Luke," an unfamiliar male voice said. I didn't see his face. "What the hell did you do?"

"I just taught this scumbag a lesson for trying to harass Annabeth," Luke answered. I saw Annabeth get up and push Luke.

"Why the hell did you do that for?!" Annabeth screamed at him.

"Stop defending him!" Luke screamed back. "You admitted today that you only befriended him because you pitied him!"

"You're impossible!" she retaliated.

She didn't deny it. That means what Luke said was true. I was just being pitied on. She never really saw me as a friend. How could she do that to me? How could she mix my feelings like that?

With great effort, I used the tree to help me steady myself as I stood up. I felt somebody put their hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see somebody I had never seen before.

"Calm down," he told me soothingly. I swatted his hand away in disgust.

"Hey, don't you dare do that to Malcolm!" Luke screamed at me. I didn't bother looking back. I started to walk away only to fall face first into the grass. My now broken leg was not cooperating for me.

Annabeth crouched down next to me and tried to give me a helping hand, but I just backed away as though she was some sort of demon.

"Get away from me!" I screamed at her. I could see the "pain" she had in her eyes. I didn't believe her lies anymore. She probably just faked that to seem innocent.

I got up once more, still very shaky, and started to make my way back to Piper's house. I felt Annabeth put her hand on me again, and this time, I had had enough. I turned around and pushed her down to the ground. I saw Malcolm and Luke tense up, but I didn't give a damn.

"Annabeth Chase," I began as I pointed towards her. "I was wrong about you. So, very wrong. Here I thought you were different from the others. I thought you actually saw me as a friend!"

I wiped the tears that came out of my eye. I didn't want to seem weak. "I don't want to see your face from now on. If I ever see you again, then don't blame me for being violent."

I saw her stutter and almost slapped her. Stop pretending already! The truth was already out!

"P-Percy," she whispered with a frantic voice. "Please don't—"

I didn't stay long enough to hear what she wanted to say. I turned around and made my way towards Piper's house. I fell a few times on the way, but that didn't stop me in the slightest.

When I reached her house, I knocked on the front door. Then a thought hit me.

What if Piper was the same as Annabeth? They were both doctors. That meant that Piper could have been pitying me as well.

I felt the urge to walk away before the door opened. I saw Piper's shocked expression at my injured state. Without saying anything, she dragged me into her house and sat me down on her sofa. She went to the bathroom to get something. I really didn't care what it was. I was just taking in the comfort of the sofa.

Piper came back out with a big first aid kit. She unpacked it on the table in front of me and took out some rubbing alcohol and some bandages.

When she touched my broken leg, I winced in pain. My reaction told her all that she needed to know in order to treat me.

"What happened?" she finally spoke up for the first time since I got there. Without looking at her, I answered.

"I went over to apologize to that evil bitch, but instead, I got beat up by her frickin' future husband," I said, frustration evident in my voice.

She looked up at me when I said "evil bitch". "You mean Annabeth?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. I told her everything that happened, from meeting Luke to waltzing home on a broken leg. Piper stared at me with her jaw dropped nearly the entire time.

"Annabeth…" Piper breathed. "She wouldn't do that."

"She didn't deny it when Luke accused her," I reminded her. "I don't care if you believe it or not. I'm never going to see her again. Period."

Piper slowly nodded in respectful agreement. When she finished patching up my leg, she went to the kitchen and brought me a cup of water. She gave it to me, and I took it with a smile on my face.

I drank the whole cup, feeling the surge of freshness streaming through my body. I placed the cup on the table and looked up to Piper, a grin on my face. She looked at me in confusion.

"You know," I began to say. "I'm glad to call you a friend, Piper. You've been taking care of me for a while now, and I haven't even had time to say thanks. So thanks."

There it was again. Her cheeks turned red. I seriously needed to research why girls kept getting red faces all of the time.

I pulled Piper into a tight hug and smiled happily. "I'm proud to call you friend."

It didn't take long before Piper hugged me back. We sat like that for a long time. Longer than I had anticipated. We eventually broke off, and when we did, I saw it again.

The same look Annabeth had given me before she ran off.

**Annabeth **

"Annabeth, how much longer are you going to ignore me for?" Luke asked me as I walked past him to the front door. I didn't respond to him. I was still very angry at how pained he made Percy yesterday, both physically and emotionally.

He had torn my delicate friendship with Percy. Now, Percy hated me with every fiber in my body. It'd be a long time until I forgave Luke.

"At least let me drive you to work," Luke tried again. When I didn't reply, he got furiously. "What is your problem?!"

I twirled around to face him. I had finally snapped. "What is wrong with me?! What is wrong with you?! How could you do that to me and Percy?!"

"What do you mean 'me and Percy'?" he asked me suspiciously. "You told us yesterday that—"

"I was lying!" I screamed. "Percy and I are actually friends!"

He gave me a shocked expression, but it died down rather quick. Then he just crossed his arms. "Look, Annabeth. I know you're a good girl and everything, but you really don't need to cover for that guy. He—"

"I'm no—!" I was about to rant, but I figured that it was no use. If he thought that I was covering for Percy, then so be it. I took my jacket off of the coat hanger and stormed out of the mansion.

I got in my car and drove towards the hospital. The silence was killing me. I turned on the radio and switched to the nearest radio station available. It was The Brown Show podcast.

I then remembered that I had an appointment on The Brown Show in two days. I smiled to myself. Maybe if I told everybody that Percy was a really good person live, he'd forgive me.

I kept that thought with me the whole entire ride to the hospital. When I emerged from my car, I saw Piper walking towards the hospital building.

Curious about Percy's condition, I walked over to her. When her eyes darted towards me, I smiled, but something was wrong. Piper didn't return the gesture. She continued to walk as if I wasn't there.

Bemused, I decided that she was just in a rush or something. I came up to her and tried my best to match her pace, but she started to speed up. Was she avoiding me?

"Piper," I said as I grabbed her by the shoulder. "How's Percy?"

I felt her jump as soon as I said "Percy". She slowly turned around towards me. She didn't look me in the eyes.

"He's fine," Piper said weakly. "I have to go. See you later."

Piper turned back around and headed off to the opposite direction. There was no doubt about it. Piper was trying to ignore me. Part of me felt sad, yet part of me felt angry. I caught up to her and pulled her shoulder once more.

"Okay Piper, what's wrong?" I asked her as I put my hands on my hips. Her eyes still didn't connect to mine. She kept on looking at the floor as if she was scared to look at me directly.

She gave a big sigh before speaking. Her expression had changed. It was originally a weary and tired expression, but it quickly turned into an angry one in no time at all.

"How could you do that to Percy?" she asked me suddenly. It sounded more like an insult than a question. "Annabeth, you were his first friend. He treated you really well. What could have made you done this? Why did you have to betray him like that?"

I looked at her, and my anger suddenly turned to regret. I shouldn't have lied to Luke and my mom. I just wanted to peacefully end my relationship with Percy. I didn't want him to suffer.

"Piper, please listen to me," I pleaded. Desperation was scattered all across my voice. Piper must have sensed it, since she bore a pitying face. "I really didn't want to do that to Percy! I didn't want to hurt him! It's just…"

She waited for me to continue.

I bit my lip. Could I tell her? Should I? I had no choice. I had to get things right again. Besides, this was Piper, my best friend.

Reluctantly, I continued. "I noticed a strange feeling erupting inside of me every time I'm with Percy. I haven't felt like this since I met Luke during high school. I…I think I'm starting to fall for Percy."

Piper stared at me with wide eyes. "But…what about Luke?"

"Exactly," I said, feeling a little more comfortable with the conversation. "I couldn't betray Luke like that. I still love him. I would never cheat on him. That's why I had to stay away from Percy. The longer I stayed with him, the more I'd risk cheating on Luke. That's why I did what I did."

Piper kept her eyes wide for a while, but her gaze soon fell. She no longer looked angry, but sad. I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"Can you relay what I told you to Percy?" I asked.

She looked up at me, and I could see tears forming in her eyes. I began to grow concerned. Why was she crying?

"Annabeth," she said hoarsely. "Yesterday, I…"

She paused and looked away once more.

"What is it?" I asked her with a sly look.

"We…we kissed yesterday."

**A/N: Thanks to those of you who bothered to review! If you guys still plan on reviewing, can you please tell me how I did on this last part (the last POV on this chapter)? I'll admit, I kind of rushed it. I really wanted to upload this chapter today. So if you guys see anything wrong from a writer's perspective, please tell me. As always, favorite, follow, and review!**

**Jabba out. **


	7. Immortal Duo

***WARNING!* Minor sexual reference in this chapter. Nothing happens, okay? At all. It's just two people talking (Percy and Piper).**

**Percy **

I had been playing on Piper's PS3 for nearly the entire day. After the initial rage I felt due to my inexperience with the controls, I actually found myself adoring all of the games I played. This machine, this godlike contraption, was now my favorite thing in the world.

The first game I played was Grand Theft Auto 4. "Fun" would be putting it lightly. This game was the bane of my joy for half of that day. Shooting a rotten douchebag between the eyes gave me so much excitement, seeing as I couldn't do it in real life.

The game really captured my thoughts on the real world. Both the game and reality was full of arrogant bastards who tainted Earth by spreading their juvenile-like "charisma". It disgusted me, and this game was the perfect way to release my long-reserved hatred.

After about four consecutive hours of running druggies over with my car, I decided to test out another game before Piper got home. I reached into the game container and pulled out Resident Evil 5. It looked pretty bomb, and the back cover seemed promising.

Then I started to wonder why Piper had all of these games? She didn't seem like the person who'd play these types of things. Plus, there were two controllers available. Who did she play with before I arrived?

Placing the thought aside, I slipped the disc into the Blu-Ray, and after an adequate amount of confusion, I managed to start the game.

Suddenly, I saw the front door creak open. I began to exasperate. Piper usually didn't come home this early. Who was at the door? Worst of all, how did that person have the key to Piper's house?

As a million thoughts zoomed around my head, I saw a familiar face pop up when the door fully opened. I had seen him when I was over at Annabeth's house. Who did Luke call this guy again? Martin? Matthew? Michael?

"Hey," he said as his eyes locked onto mine.

"Uh, hey," I said awkwardly. What was the purpose of his arrival? Was he here to yell at me for dissing Annabeth the other night? Who was he to her, anyway? Another one of her patients with cancer?

He slowly walked over to the sofa and took a seat beside me. He looked at the TV and a smile appeared on his face.

"Resident Evil 5, huh?" he asked me.

I looked at him in amazement. "How did you know?"

He laughed. "I have this game at home too. Man, the memories I had with this game. Can I play with you?"

I stared at him for a moment before drawing my sight back to the television.

"You sure you want to play with me?" I asked, my eyes still concentrated on the screen. "For one, I'm Percy Jackson. I'm sure you've heard of me. If not, then you probably remember me as the douchebag who yelled at Annabeth the other night."

"Yeah, I know who you are," he told me coolly. "But not as any of those things."

I turned my gaze towards him in confusion. "Then who do you know me as?"

The boy ruffled his hair and leaned back onto the sofa. "I know you as the guy my sister had been crying over for the past six days."

"Sister?" I asked in confusion. Then it hit me. "Annabeth?"

He nodded, although his face wasn't directed at me.

Uncontrollably, my jaw fell. No matter how hard I tried to pull it back up, it stayed dropped. For one, this guy was Annabeth's brother? Second, Annabeth had been crying? Over me?

"I think you're mistaken," I told him softly. I leaned back onto the sofa as well. "She doesn't care about me. She only cares about me from a doctor's perspective. She doesn't see me as a friend. Hell, I doubt she even sees me as a human."

The boy remained silent as he looked up at the ceiling. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"Happy one weak anniversary, Wise Girl. I miss you," he said. My eyes lunged towards him as I bore a shocked expression.

"How did you kno—" I began before he cut me off.

"How can't I know?" he replied as he slowly turned towards me. "She's been playing that voicemail for hours on end. Every time she plays it, I hear her sob. Not only that, but every time you leave her a brand new voicemail, she loses the will to do nearly anything. She left the hospital once because of one of your voicemails."

I continued to look at him. I didn't want to believe him. I really didn't. But the way he looked at me and the way his voice spoke without remorse forced me to believe him.

The guy took a deep sigh before sitting back up again. He grabbed the second PS3 controller and turned to me with a grin. His expression had changed completely.

"Can I play with you?" he asked me once again. He was acting as thought nothing had happened. I'll give him some bonus points for trying. I cleared my head of anything Annabeth related and nodded back with a smile on my face.

The next few hours flew by quicker than the wind. The guy, who told me his name was Malcolm, was amazing. He was practically oozing with personality, and he could sometimes be very immature. I liked that about him.

"How the hell did he grab me? I shot him in the face like ten times! With a magnum!" he screamed at one point, making me scrunch over laughing.

Sometime during our gaming session, we adopted the name "Immortal Duo", at least for the game at hand. We named ourselves that because we were two "soldiers" who couldn't be put down by any undead. We really were "immortal" as a "duo".

We were having too much fun to notice the front door opening. Presumably, Piper came home and was shocked to see Malcolm playing with me. She got over that quickly, however, and giggled to herself as she hung her coat over the coat hanger.

She went to her bedroom to change, and eventually, to her shower in order to clean herself up. We didn't notice any of it. Zombie slaying occupied 100% of our attention.

After countless hours of putting down zombies, I heard something ringing. It sounded as though it was coming from Malcolm. I was right. His watch had gone off, and he told me that he needed to go home.

Disappointment struck every cell in my body, and I could tell by his face that he was disappointed as well.

We got up and did our newly made handshake. Yep, we even made a new handshake. It was just a slap in each other's hands followed by a light jab to the chest. Nothing fancy, but special, nonetheless.

"See you tomorrow, bro?" Malcolm asked me as he took his jacket off of the coat hanger. Bro. Was that what we were now? Brothers?

"Definitely," I said with a grin. He grinned back at me and went for the front door.

"See you, Percy," he said with a quick wave. As he was closing the door, he looked at me one final time. "Think about what I said. About Annabeth, I mean."

I didn't want to make any promises I couldn't or didn't want to keep, so I just nodded. With a last wave, he left.

"Percy?" a girl said from behind the sofa. I turned around flabbergasted only to see Piper standing there, her hair still wet. She must have recently finished her shower.

"Piper!" I screamed out in terror. "When the hell did you get home?!"

I heard her laugh. "I've been home for a couple of hours now, genius," she mocked.

"How come I don't remember you coming home?" I asked as I tried to recall the door opening. I only saw it open once, and that was when Malcolm came over.

"Maybe because you were too busy killing zombies with Malcolm," she replied as she started drying her hair with the towel in her hand. I beamed at her brightly and nodded before deciding whether or not I should play more video games.

"Did you have fun playing with Malcolm?" she asked me with a smile. I scratched the back of my head as I looked at her.

"Duh," I answered goofily. "If I didn't, then I would have seen you come home."

"Fair enough," Piper said as she returned to the bathroom. She came out with her pajamas, and even a guy like me had to laugh.

"Really?" I said with a chuckle. "You're wearing your Barbie pajamas for dinner?"

She looked over to me with a smile. "I'm eating with a dork, not the Queen of England."

"Ouch," I had said as I grasped my heart jokingly. "That stung."

I was expecting Piper to joke back, but she didn't. Instead, she looked at me with a serious and depressed look.

"Is something wrong, Piper?" I asked as I studied her face. She looked away from me for a split second before reconnecting her line of sight on me again.

"Percy," she began to say. She sounded regretful. "Yesterday…I'm sorry."

"What happened yesterday?" I asked as I tried to recall the previous day. Yesterday was the day I got beat up. So what? Why was she apologizing? She wasn't the one who broke my leg.

"For kissing you," she started to explain. "Forget about it, okay? It was just a moment of lust."

"Kissing?" I asked dumbly. Then I remembered. "Oh, you mean when you sucked on my lips!"

I saw Piper turn red again. Normally, I'd be pretty annoyed, but I was starting to get used to girls getting red in front of me. Well, at least Piper and Annabeth.

"Yeah," she mumbled back in response. "Just forget about it, okay?"

"Uh, sure," I agreed nonchalantly. "But what does kissing symbolize?"

"Love," she answered. "Kissing someone means that you love them."

"But I do love you," I said innocently. I saw her shiver a bit when I said that.

"Not in that way, Percy," she explained to me. "In another way."

"Liiiiiikkkee?" I asked, stretching the word out. It was apparent from my tone that I wanted to know.

She bit her lip. "Like how a boyfriend or a girlfriend loves each other. Or how a husband or a wife loves each other."

"Really? Well, I—" I began to say before something struck me. If kissing meant love, then what was Annabeth trying to do that day? She leaned in in and parted her lips similarly to how Piper did. Did that mean that Annabeth "loved" me in "that" way?

"It could also be a moment of lust, like I said," Piper continued to say when she saw me ponder. I looked at her earnestly, intent on learning more.

"What is lust?" I asked her. She looked at me as though she wasn't expecting that question. She gave a weak laugh before replying.

"It's a sexual craving for another human being," she replied hotly. This was obviously making her feel uncomfortable, to the point where I became guilty of pressuring her into telling me. Parts of her body were beginning to twitch uncontrollably.

"If this question is making you uncomfortable, you don't have to answer," I reassured. She smiled at me and shook her head.

"It's okay," she said. "It's better for you to know now than later. Sit down with me."

I nodded, and the two of us sat down together on the sofa. With a hearty sigh, she continued her lecture.

"It's really hard to explain. There are hormones in every human being that builds up after an adequate amount of sexual tension is gained. The only way to release it is by—"

She stopped herself and looked away from me. She took a deep breath in order to finish. I was about to call it quits, seeing as she was obviously uncomfortable with the topic at hand, but before I could say anything, she continued on speaking.

"You won't be able to fully understand it unless you experience sex firsthand," she told me softly as she kept her gaze on the ground.

"Then show me," I said. At the time, being the unintelligent whoreson I was, I didn't realize how wrong and stupid it was to ask her that. I was absolutely clueless. She looked at me with a gaping expression as she began to stutter.

"I-I can't!" she flustered. "That's not right! We don't like each other like that! I mean, I don't think we do…And that kind of lust is wrong! That type of lust is only for playboys and prostitutes!"

Piper's face couldn't have been any redder than it was. I decided to drop the subject before she imploded.

"Forget it," I told her. She looked up at me nervously and I could tell how deep that question was just by looking into her eyes. Her eyes reeked of embarrassment and humiliation. I chastised myself for asking her such a ridiculous question.

"I'm sorry," I said apologetically. "I didn't know that question would bother you that much."

"Don't worry about it," she said back with a weak smile. The redness in her face was beginning to drain. "Let's just pretend that none of this ever happened, okay?"

"Deal," I said with a grin. "So, do you want to play Grand Theft Auto with me?"

**Annabeth **

The TV had nearly nothing worth watching. Sports weren't my thing, reality shows were starting to get stale, and cartoons weren't fun to watch without another partner.

To be honest, I hadn't independently watched TV by myself since I was 12 years old. I was too focused on school and my friends to actually bother with it. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't watch any TV when I was over 12. These TV shows were absolutely horrible, especially the new reality shows. It was just a bunch of teenaged brats trying to be funny but failing horribly at it.

So why did I start watching TV again? Easy. It was because of the movie marathon I had with Percy. Watching those movies with him really gave me a new perspective on TV. Unfortunately, without him, TV didn't live up to my expectations. Not even close.

The movie marathon with Percy went perfectly. Well, if you didn't include all of the events that took place after the marathon, which led to Piper kissing him.

Why did I feel so hurt when Piper told me that she kissed Percy? Had I really fallen for him? If so, were my cravings for him that bad?

I was about to take a sip of the Gatorade in my hand before I heard a voice.

"Hey-o," I heard somebody familiar say in unison with the chimes above the front door. Malcolm.

"Hey," I smiled at him. It wasn't a forced one like I used to make when we were teenagers. It was a genuine one. "Where'd you go?"

"To Piper's house," he answered me with the biggest smirk in the world. I stared at him in both surprise and curiosity. I suppressed the urge to jump him for information about Percy.

"Really?" I tried to say as casually as I could. "What happened?"

"You wanna know?" he asked me as he took the Gatorade out of my hands, taking a quick sip before placing it back in my hands. "I made a new friend today."

"Percy?" I assumed. He gave me a proud nod.

"That dude is awesome," he told me. "I can see why and how you befriended him."

"D-did he say anything about me?" I asked nervously. My fingers started to twitch insanely around each other. Why was I doing this? I usually never twitch. I'm Annabeth Chase.

Malcolm didn't look me in the eye. "Yeah, he did."

I was waiting for him to clarify. It was obvious that he didn't feel like telling me.

"So what did he say?" I asked him hastily. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it in no time at all. I was beginning to feel slightly agitated.

"Well?" I pressed on. After a great deal of hesitation, he finally answered me.

"When I first talked to him about you, he sounded really mad. Murderous, in fact. He spat with venom on every word."

I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear anymore, but my curiosity got the better of me. "And then?"

"After I explained on your behalf, he started to sound…what's the word? Regretful?" he said as he scratched the nip of his neck.

"W—" I began to say before I heard someone knock on the front door. I looked over to Malcolm who was just as confused as I was. I slowly walked over to the front door and reached for the golden doorknob. Opening the door, I almost fell at who I saw.

Percy.

"Uh, hey," he said bunglingly. He seemed to be embarrassed. A thousand thoughts sped across my mind. Why was he here? Did he come to yell at me?

The first thing I noticed was the huge gash mark on the side of his face. It was bleeding down to his jaw. What had happened?

"Percy, your cheek!" I said in horror. I went to touch it, and surprisingly, he let me. I was expecting him to swat it away.

"It's nothing," he lied. What a bland forgery of a lie. If nothing happened, then how did his face get injured? He must have succumbed to my intense stare because he started to tell me the truth.

"When I left the flower shop, there were a few kids who saw me and started throwing rocks at me. One of them severely grazed my cheek."

Instead of getting sad, I became angry. More people were bullying him? I wanted to lash out in fury to those people who kept harassing him. He's suffered enough, for Christ's sake! Then I recalled his words. Did he say he left the flower shop?

Looking down, I noticed a bouquet of flowers in his hands and my heart did a reverse summersault. I forgot about his gash mark completely. Unless the flowers were for Malcolm, they were obviously for yours truly.

"Uh, this is for you," he said when he noticed me staring at the flowers. His hands were shaking as he gave them to me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile as I took the flowers out of his hands. White lilies. Who knew he could be such a charmer?

Then it happened. The biggest aura of awkwardness possible broke out between the two of us. My body begged my mind to come up with something clever to say to him. Anything! I just wanted to get away from this awkwardness!

Percy didn't look very settled in, either. He was starting to sweat a lot. I could tell that part of him wanted to walk away from me and never come back, but his self-conscious side stopped him.

Malcolm (thankfully) joined us, and I saw Percy's expression change drastically. His once shy and nervous expression was now replaced with a happy and ecstatic one. I had to admit, it made me feel a little jealous. Percy was my friend first, whereas Malcolm only knew him for a few hours.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to see you so soon," Malcolm said with a chuckle.

"Is it so weird to visit my Immortal counterpart?" Percy replied with a wink. Malcolm laughed, which gave me the impression that what Percy said was some sort of inside joke that they had created when they were hanging out.

After calming down, Malcolm noticed the injury on Percy's face and stared at it wide-eyed. "Perce. Your face! Wha—"

"That's a story for another day," Percy replied. He didn't seem like he wanted to repeat the embarrassing tale twice. The two of them then did their newly made handshake, and I could feel my left eye twitch. Why didn't he have a handshake with me?

Percy suddenly pulled on a serious tone. "As much as I like seeing you, bro, I'm actually here to see Annabeth."

I peered at the boy in jarring trauma. He came here to talk to me? Well, that would explain the flowers.

Percy grabbed me by the hand and murmured, "follow me" before dragging me out of the house. Malcolm looked as though he was going to say something, but we were already out of hearing range.

For some reason, I didn't ask him about our destination. Holding his hands erased all thoughts in my head. Holding his hand made me feel all giddy inside. I noticed that he didn't pull me harshly, so that raised the thought that he wasn't as mad at me anymore.

After a long walk, he finally stopped. I gawked at where he took me.

The ice cream parlor.

He pulled me towards the vendor, who seemed to be in the middle of closing. The vendor saw us and gave us a confused look.

He then noticed Percy and casted him a disgusted glare.

"What are you doing holding Annabeth Chase's hand, eh punk?" the man taunted him. Percy tried his best to ignore him, but I could tell that the man's words struck a nerve in him.

"One Oreo Sundae, please," Percy requested formally. I was surprised he kept his civility with the man. I thought he would have raged or at least snickered.

The vendor chortled devilishly. "Even if you had a million bucks, I'd never give one to you. If you're trying to threaten me by taking Ms. Chase hostage, then I will call the poli—"

"I want one Oreo Sundae," I told the man. I gave Percy's hand, which was still holding mine, a tight squeeze, letting him know that I had his back.

"Ms. Chase, if he's blackmailing you, just tell me. Don't try to—"

"I want an Oreo Sundae," I repeated. My anger was starting to boost exponentially. I was getting tired of hearing people say that I was covering up for Percy.

The vendor cursed between his breath as he followed my order. He handed a cup of Oreo Sundae to me, and I took it with a forced smile. I felt Percy pull on my hand again, leading me somewhere else. I didn't have to guess. I knew exactly where he was taking me.

When we arrived at the fountain, he released my hand and took the Oreo Sundae. He grabbed his spoon and, after taking a seat on the edge of the fountain, started to do something to it.

I sat down next to him and gave him a quick look. He didn't seem mad, but he didn't look happy either.

I noticed that he was stirring the sundae in a clockwise direction. Did that mean that…

"Are you going to leer at me melting this thing or are you going to help me?" he asked me with a half-smile.

I started to get dizzy from all of the mixed feelings I was experiencing. I was overjoyed that Percy was actually talking to me and offering melted ice cream, but guilty that he was so nice to me, despite what he had been told.

With probably the most idiotic grin in the world, I nodded wildly and started to help him stir the ice cream. I didn't want this moment to pass. I wanted to stay there forever. It was indescribable what I felt like around Percy. I had told him in the past that he needed me, but ironically now, I needed him more than anything.

Like a little girl, I shamefully began to cry. It was quiet, but loud enough for Percy to take notice. He stopped stirring the ice cream and placed the cup down on the edge of the fountain. He then pulled me into a long-awaited hug.

I hugged him back and reveled as I felt him gently rub my back. Oh, how I missed his pacifying touch. However, his kindness made me feel even guiltier than ever before.

"Percy," I began to sob helplessly. In my whole entire life, I had never cried so hard. Not even when I got a C on one of my Geometry tests. "I'm so sorry for putting you through all of this. I should have persisted on telling my family about you. It's all my fault. I'm so—"

"I don't want or need an apology," he said relaxingly, his hand still going down my back.

"Don't say that. If you don't let me apologize, then how do you expect me to live with myself?" I explained, my voice still groggy from crying.

"What hurt me the most was the thought that you didn't care about me," Percy whispered. I could feel him shuttering as he breathed those words.

"For once, I thought I really made a friend. A legitimate one. You were so important to me. Then one day, you just left. Permanently. You didn't answer any of my calls nor did you even try to contact me. My whole world fell apart when I met your husband that day. The words he told me…I felt like a part of my heart had died."

I was beginning to hyperventilate with the excessive amount of guilt I had built up inside of me. I couldn't believe how much I hurt Percy. I felt like stabbing myself to repay the gigantic debt I felt I owed him.

"Instead of an apology, I want an answer: Do you, or do you not, see me as a friend? A real friend?" he asked me. I almost screamed the answer.

"Of course I see you as a friend," I sobbed quickly. "You are very important to me."

"Apparently, by your actions, I wasn't as important to you as you were to me."

"Stop, Percy," I cried harder as I squeezed his tee shirt. "Don't say anymore. I don't think I can take it."

"Then let me say four words," Percy requested. I was in no position to deny his request, so I nodded my head against his chest. I felt him inflate as he took a deep breath. His hand suddenly stopped rubbing my back.

Then I heard it.

"I love you, Annabeth."


	8. The Truth

**A/N: I just got my first flame review two days ago! Wow, I'm on a role! Don't worry, I won't stop this story unless legitimate viewers tell me that it's bad. I'll talk more about the flame at the end of this chapter. **

**Percy **

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked Annabeth skeptically. She was in the middle of dragging me to _The Cuisine_, a very expensive restaurant in the center of the Manhattan. I was completely against the idea. For one, I felt mediocre since she was going to have to pay for the both of us. I was the male of the pair, after all. Second, I was in no mood to be laughed at by the charming citizens of New York.

"When did I ever offer bad ideas?" Annabeth gibed with a smile. "Besides, isn't this part of your list? To go eat at a fancy restaurant?"

"Yeah, but this feels…wrong. A fool like me going to an expensive restaurant?"

Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at me. I felt a lecture incoming.

"Percy Jackson, what is up with your attitude?" she asked me fiercely. "This isn't the Percy Jackson who didn't give a damn about what other people thought about him. What's gotten into you?"

"That's just a façade I put on to act stronger than I really am," I clarified with great remorse. "Annabeth, I grew up building a resistance to taunts like 'transgender' or 'stain'. That doesn't mean that I'm immune to it. Words really do hurt. Fuck that 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me' bullshit. Words do hurt, sometimes as much as a stab to the chest."

"What if I told you that you're the best person in the world? Would that counteract those insults?" she asked. I wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

"Not really, but it couldn't hurt to try," I replied nonchalantly. Annabeth crossed her arm as a smirk emerged on her lips.

"Percy Jackson, you're the best guy I know. Happy?" she asked sarcastically.

"Oh, cut the bullshit. We all know that the best guy you know is your future husband," I added. I didn't know why, but I had a tiny tint of hatred in my voice. Annabeth seemed to notice it as she raised her eyebrow in bewilderment.

"You wouldn't happen to be jealous, would you?" she asked. Sure, she was mocking me, but I could have sworn I heard a sprinkle of hope in her tone. It must have been my stupid imagination.

I felt myself becoming flustered for reasons unknown. "Of course not!" I said fleetly, lightly pulling on my shirt collar to let some cool air in.

I was sure she would have tried to continue to pester me on the matter, but she didn't. Instead, she remained silent the whole way to _The Cuisine. _I risked a few quick glances at her from time to time, and whenever I did, I saw her eyes pooling gallons of disappointment.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the people. Everybody looked classy as hell. All of the males either wore tuxedos or Polo tee shirts with ties. The females either wore dresses or business casuals. Then a thought struck me. What was I wearing?

I looked down to examine my current attire and mentally cursed myself. What the fuck was I thinking?

I had a torn up Christmas sweater with Rudolph on the front of it and a heavily scratched Long John. For shoe wear, I had a pair of rusted tennis sneakers. My left sneaker was, in fact, ripped open near the front. This made my toe stick out like a fucking psycho.

Piper went to buy some men's clothes for me that day, seeing as all of her clothes were for girls. However, it was too late. I was already out with Annabeth on our way to a fancy restaurant with a bunch of rich whores. Seriously, fuck my life.

As we walked passed a group of rich boys, I heard somebody whistling. Turning around to face them, I noticed that the whistle was directed at Annabeth. They were all giving her a seducing stare.

Annabeth smiled back but didn't really do anything else. At least she was loyal to her future husband, I suppose.

"Hi, how may I help you?" a pretty waitress greeted as we entered the restaurant. Then she saw me and immediately frowned.

Annabeth seemed to had noticed this. She snapped her fingers in order to bring the waitress' attention back to her.

"Table for two, please," she requested civilly. The waitress' glare didn't leave me, and I felt the urge to hide behind Annabeth.

"This way," the waitress said tonelessly as she led us through many tables. I received many different glares from many different people. Some of them glared at me in confusion when they saw me walking with Annabeth. Some of them glared at me in hatred. Some of them didn't even look at me. They just looked at Annabeth.

When we were nearing our table, some gentleman stuck his leg out, and I tripped and fell onto the waitress. She was furious and disgusted when I landed on her. To repay my "kindness", she gave me a hardy kick to the groin.

I tried my best not to scream, but a forceful kick to the groin was no joke, at least for males. I scrunched over in burning pain and embarrassment as I grabbed my private area.

Laughter bounced off of every wall as I was in my moment of weakness. The waitress had run off somewhere, most likely to the bathroom where she could wash my germs off of her body.

I looked up and glared at Annabeth in anger. Why was she just standing there? She wasn't even looking at me! Here I was in one of my greatest moments of weakness, and my best friend just stands there and ignores me. Was she embarrassed of me?

As the pain slowly started to fade, I felt the temptation to run away. I wasn't going to get any comfort or support at that restaurant, not even from Annabeth. I turned around and began to walk away. It tore my heart in two when Annabeth didn't even bother stopping me.

Furious, I stormed out of the restaurant, my trail burning with intense flames. I've been made a fool of twice by the same damn person. Why was I so hopelessly dumb and gullible?

I was surprised to hear Annabeth's shrill scream calling me back, although I pretended as though I didn't hear it.

I felt somebody place a hand on my shoulder, and I immediately shook it away. I didn't even want to look at that witch. However, she wasn't one to give up that easily. She walked in front of my face and stared me down. I didn't even bother looking at her eyes.

"Percy, I—" she began before I rudely cut her off.

"Don't bother with your petty excuses," I roared at her. "Admit it, you're embarrassed to be seen with me."

"Percy, I can't just—"

"You can't what?" I interrupted her for the second time. I was on a roll, and I wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon. "You can't put down your fame and fortune for someone you consider a 'friend'?"

Annabeth consistently opened and closed her mouth in order to say something, but she closed it every time.

"Let me ask you something," I questioned her. "If I asked you to walk back into that restaurant holding my hand, would you do it?"

The reluctance I saw in her eyes told me all I needed to know. With a vicious scowl, I turned back around and started walking back to Piper's house. This time, Annabeth didn't try to stop me, and it was a good thing that she didn't.

I was out all out of forgiveness.

**Annabeth**

"You whore! You skank! You self-centered bitch! You greedy asshole! You pathetic excuse of a friend!" I screamed at the reflection my bathroom mirror generated. What the hell was my problem? Why didn't I defend Percy? Why didn't I accept his request to walk back into the restaurant with our hands intertwined?

I knew why. Because I was a selfish star who couldn't afford to hurt my own social status. I let Percy suffer damning humiliation all by himself while I just stood next to him like an idiot. He had every right to be mad at me. Hell, even I was mad at me!

I swatted the bottle of soap off of the table in anger. I wasn't going to cry. I didn't deserve to pity myself. I didn't even deserve to pity Percy. I had to man up, for me and for Percy.

Before my heart clenched any further, I ran over to Malcolm's room. I needed some comfort. I thought about going to Luke first, but his "comfort" would have probably ended in unneeded sex, something I didn't desire at the moment.

Bashing on the door wildly, I impatiently waited at Malcolm's room door. After a few seconds, he opened the door with a smile, but that dropped quickly when he saw my face.

"Annabeth! What's going on?" he asked me in concern. I began to fumble with my words. It went something like, "Percy, he-I was- and then I-he hates me."

Malcolm tried his best to decipher it, but failed miserably. I couldn't mutter another word. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but I failed myself. Streams of tears poured down my cheeks, making me feel like a melodramatic mom.

I jumped into Malcolm, hugging him tightly. In no time at all, he hugged me back. He brought me into his room and closed the door behind us as he patiently waited until I cried out all that I could before questioning me.

I told him everything that had happened that day. He had a bland expression on his face the whole way through, but his eyes told me otherwise. His eyes were filled with disappointment.

"Annabeth," he breathed out. "How could you do that? How could you let Percy suffer like that? Are you insane?"

"Yes, I am insane," I cried. "I don't have any sanity left in me. I am a selfish prick who can't even defend her own friend."

"Be honest with me, Annie," Malcolm told me a little calmer than his previous sentence. "Dig deep within yourself and tell me what made you do that to him."

I didn't have to think long before I came up with my answer. People blushing whenever I smile at them. Boys whistling whenever I walked passed them. Little kids begging me for my autograph. Parents sending me gifts as appreciation for all of my "hard work". That was my life; my selfish life. I didn't want to lose it.

I knew it was mean, but I didn't want to live like Percy. I didn't want to live in a nearly destroyed shack with people throwing dung at me. I liked being **the **Annabeth Chase that everybody loved. I liked being famous.

"It's stardom, isn't it?" Malcolm guessed as though he read my mind. I shamefully nodded and heard a sigh coming out of his lips.

He didn't say anything else. We just sat there as I silently and mentally pummeled myself for being such an uncontrollable narcissistic-star. I hated that side of me, but I couldn't stop craving it. It was as if a mental war between selflessness and self-centered was breaking down in my noggin.

"I'm going to go visit Percy," Malcolm told me. He released me and grabbed his jacket off his computer desk. Before he left, he looked at me for the last time. "Do you want me to relay anything to him?"

I thought about his offer. Should I let Malcolm tell Percy that I was sorry? No, saying sorry was not enough – not even close. Asking Malcolm to relay it for me would have made me seem cowardly. I didn't need Percy to think I was a coward to go along with being selfish. I shook my head, and with a slight nod, he left to Percy's house.

I got up and started pacing myself around Malcolm's room. I started chewing on my nails like a sassy teenaged girl. I certainly had the selfishness of a teenaged girl. Maybe even more than that.

Deciding that prancing around my brother's room wasn't going to get me anywhere, I decided to head downstairs and drown my troubles with some Gatorade. Man, did I love Gatorade. It was my all-time favorite beverage. I don't know what it was about the drink that made me feel all refreshed.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw my mom talking to someone on the phone. When she saw me, she hastily turned around and began to whisper. At the time, I really didn't care. I was far too depressed to pay much attention to whoever my mom was talking to.

Before I could reach the kitchen, my mom hung up on whoever she was talking to and started to talk to me.

"Annabeth? You do remember that you have an appearance on the The Brown Show, right?" my mom reminded me. I faltered as I remembered my appointment with Dr. Brown that day. All of this Percy business made me forget about it.

"Thanks, mom," I said, flashing her a quick smile before rushing out of the door. I entered my car and went straight to Brown's Studio. I was probably speeding, but that mattered very little to me at the time.

This was my chance to set things right with Percy. If I told everybody on national television that Percy was an amazing person, maybe he'd forgive me. I was hoping for too much, but everything started with a single step, and I was pretty goddamn confident about this step.

When I got out of my car, a crowd of paparazzi formed around me and started taking pictures of me. Countless reporters lined up and asked me a bunch of questions that were hard to answer since questions kept coming one after another.

My patience eventually dropped, and I began to fast-walk towards the studio. Destiny was being pretty horrendous to me. When I entered the building, I found even more paparazzi.

To evade anymore unwanted attention, I sprinted towards the elevator and went inside. I clicked on the 5th floor, which was where the studio was located, and hoped that my fans would have the decency to let me ride the elevator alone. Thankfully, they did.

The elevator door opened up to a bunch of workers ranging from cameramen to light coordinators. In the very center of the room was a big African man. This man was Dr. Brown, the host of The Brown Show. He saw me coming his direction and popped a quick smile at me.

I was about to flash him one back, but a kid who was probably no more than ten years old ran up to me, a pair of sneakers in one of his hands, a sharpie in the other.

"Ms. Chase! Can you please sign this for me?" the kid asked me sincerely. I couldn't refuse such a cute kid, so with a grin, I bent down and signed his shoe. The kid looked like he was about to burst out in excitement. He thanked me a dozen times and then ran away.

This was the type of feeling that was hard to give up – the type of feeling where everybody loved you. This sensation didn't sound noble or virtuous in the slightest, but was I wrong? Stardom felt great.

"Ah, Ms. Chase," Dr. Brown said with his hand stretched out. I took his hand into my own and gave it a firm shake. "Or should I call you Mrs. Castellan?"

I faked a laugh in order to seem more interested in the conversation than I really was. "Not yet. The wedding is still many months away."

"Understood. So, are you exited for today's show?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess. What do I have to do?"

"Well, it's your 30 minutes. You can say whatever you want once the Q&A is finished," Dr. Brown said.

"There's a Q&A?" I asked nervously. I hadn't expected a Q&A. I wanted to tell everyone about Percy the second the show aired.

"Why, of course!" he answered me gleefully. "You have thousands of fans, Ms. Chase. It's only expected for you to have a Q&A segment."

I smiled weakly at him. "Thanks for the heads up, Dr."

"Think nothing of it," he told me, ending the conversation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dress up for the show. See you in a bit, Ms. Chase."

"Likewise," I nodded.

With nothing else to do, I found an empty seat in the corner of the room and sat there. As much as I liked fame and glory, some peace and quiet would be superb right about then.

I got about five seconds of peace before I heard somebody yelp my name.

"Oh my God, it's Annabeth Chase!" I heard somebody scream in delight. Looking up, I saw a girl who looked around my age. She had blonde hair like me, although it only reached to her neck. Her brown eyes were positively glowing as she looked at me.

"Uh, hi," I rubbed my eyes. All of the crying I did that day was starting to make me drowsy.

"I can't believe it's actually you!" the girl continued to rant. "I mean, I knew you were coming and all, but to actually see you in person is unbelievable! I've heard a lot about you, you know. I follow your Twitter every single day. That picture of you and Luke is so cute. Plus—"

The longer she continued to babble, the less I seemed to care. I patiently waited until she stopped. Too bad she didn't. She kept on mouthing it away without a care in the world. If it wasn't for Dr. Brown coming out, I would have been bored to sleep.

"Mary, leave the poor girl alone," Dr. Brown chastised her to my delight.

"I'm sorry, it's just…eep!" she shrieked as she hopped up and down in excitement. Honestly, why was she treating me like Selena Gomez? I was just a doctor.

"Oh, I really want to kill that Peter Johnson asshole!" she yelled out in anger. Out of all of the things she said, that was the only one that actually got my attention. All of it.

"It's Percy Jackson," I said hotly. She didn't seem to be fazed at all.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. Goddamn, he's such a dickhead. I can't believe he had the **nerve **to attempt to rape you!"

"He didn't—" I began to correct her. I held myself back. No worries. When I reveal everything on live television, she'd shut herself up.

"It's time to air, cupcake," Dr. Brown told me as he walked over to the set. This was it. Everybody's opinion will change about Percy after this broadcast.

At least I hoped it would.

**Percy **

"Go away!" I screamed at Piper, who was bashing on my door. Well, technically, this was her room, but since I slept in it every night, I considered it my room.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" she retorted, the slamming still audible. I didn't want to talk about what happened that day. What could I say? That a woman kicked my balls because I fell on her accidentally while Annabeth just stood there like the egocentric bitch she was?

_Spoilt brat. I hope I never see her again_. I didn't have any more mercy to give her. She used all of it up in the course of one week. New record.

"Fine!" I heard Piper yell from the outside. I was shocked at her tone. She sounded angry and mad, a trait I never suspected her to have. "Don't tell me! Forget that I took care of you this past week! Don't return my kindness! See if I care!"

It was obvious by her resonance that she **did **care. However, she did have a point. I did owe my life to her. Who knows what state I'd be in now if she didn't "adopt" me?

I groaned sheepishly as I got off of my bed and opened the door. Piper stood there with a sullen look on her face. Although her expression told me she was mad, her eyes told me that she was hurt. That was when I realized that I hadn't done anything to repay Piper for her kindness. In the past week, I had done nothing more than live off of her generosity. And here I was accusing Annabeth of being selfish when I wasn't any better.

"Piper," I breathed as I began to construct a well-thought out apology. "You're right. I wasn't aware of how narrow-minded I was to your hospitality. I'm sorry, Pipes."

"I…I'm just worried about your well-being," she replied. That was Piper. Her anger never seemed to stay for long. "Seriously, don't worry about me lending you my house. It really doesn't—"

"No, I will worry," I cut in. "Piper, I absolutely **refuse **to let you take care of me for free. Tell me, what do you want from me? If it's within my power, I'll do it."

That was easier said than done. I had no power, per se. Even when I was living in Piper's house, I was still a penniless bastard. What could I possibly do to repay her?

Piper knew it, too, as she refused my offer. "Percy, it's okay. Really. I don't need you to do anything for me. I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart, not to blackmail you for favors."

"That's not making me feel any less guilty. I—"

"Am I interrupting something?" Piper and I heard a voice coming from the front door. When we turned over to the source of the voice, we saw Malcolm leaning on the front door with his arms crossed across his chest. An amused smirk played across his face.

I couldn't believe that I never thought about it, but how did Malcolm enter the house out of his own free will? Didn't he need a key?

"Percy," Malcolm casually nodded towards me. I slowly nodded back in suspicion. He was probably here on Annabeth's behalf.

"Piper, can I have a word alone with Percy?" Malcolm asked Piper politely. With a smile, she agreed. After giving me a quick hug, she left the house to do who knows what.

"Let me guess. You're here to defend Annabeth's pride?" I assumed. I didn't even need to wait for him to reply. I already knew the answer. "Well, let me tell you, there's nothing you can say that can even remotely change my opinion on her. My mind has been made."

"Too bad I'm not here to talk about her," he answered me normally. His nonchalance was beginning to disturb me. Why was he acting as if nothing happened?

"What, I can't hang around with my Immortal counterpart?" he mocked me. Even though our exchange was rather tense, I couldn't help but laugh at Malcolm's unsophisticated attitude. Even in dark times, he knew how to make his adversary smile.

"Any activities you have in mind?" I asked, accepting the jest.

"Well, I was going to suggest some more video games, but let's switch things up. How about we watch some ridiculously cheesy TV shows?"

"What does cheese have to do with TV shows?" I asked intelligently. Malcolm laughed at how easily I fell for his over-the-wagon exaggeration.

"I forgot you're new to the modern-day tongue," he chuckled softly. He went over to the TV and clicked the power button. Then, he splat himself down on the sofa and scrolled through the many channels with the remote control.

I sat down next to him in anticipation as I started imagining what "cheesy" TV shows were like. Were they cooking shows that involved some type of cheese? Or was it just a figurative saying for something?

Before I could think about anything else, something on the TV caught my eye. Annabeth and some big fat black guy were having a civil discussion. My fist clenched as I saw that she-devil again. I gently asked Malcolm to change the channel, but he ignored me. This was probably part of his scheme to help his sister.

I was about to get up and walk away before a certain conversation reached my ears.

"Okay, next question," the fat man on TV said. "Melissa Rogers from Minnesota asks 'On a scale from one to ten, how much do you hate and despise Percy Jackson?'"

My heart came to a sudden halt as I impatiently waited for Annabeth's answer. I saw her smile, and I assumed that she would shit on my name to defend her standing. Boy, was I in for a treat.

"Depends," Annabeth said with a shrug. "If ten is the most I hate him, then it's a zero."

Did I hear that right? No, I couldn't have. I must have been mistaken. There was no way she was speaking on my behalf.

I could hear the cameramen gasp behind the scenes. The fat black man had the same expression I had plastered on his face. The news was mind-blowing, to say the least.

"Uh, surely you mean 'if ten is the most I hate him, then it's a ten'," he corrected her. Annabeth shook her head, and I could feel a large smile emerging on my face.

Annabeth looked directly at the camera with a confident visage. "People of New York. I want to make it clear today that Percy Jackson is not who you think he is. Percy Jackson is an amazing person. He is **not **a sleazebag. He never was. Whatever lies the media has fed you is wrong. Percy in no shape or form tried to assault me. Greedy photographers snuck up on us while we were playing. Yes, we were playing with each other, and it was fun.

"I am tired of everybody treating Percy like he is trash. Just because he was unlucky enough to live in the slums without a family doesn't mean that he's a bad person. That's just stereotyping at its worst.

"Let me tell you all something. I, Annabeth Chase, adore and respect Percy Jackson. He is one of my closest friends and will forever be dear to my heart. I get so infuriated whenever I see someone harass him. He's actually a really nice person once you allow him to fully open up to you. Funny, as well.

"Between me and him, I'm the real sleazebag. I am one of the most selfish pricks on the planet. I didn't even realize how stupidly parsimonious I was until today, which was the day I watched him suffer unendurable humiliation while I sat back and did nothing.

"In conclusion, I hope that the message I'm trying to present to the people of New York today is loud enough so that Percy can live a meaningful life. Give him a chance. Trust me, you won't be sorry."

Silence. Dead silence was the only thing that could be heard from both Piper's house and the studio. Annabeth didn't look regretful at all. She sat there assuredly while everybody tried to absorb the shocking information.

Dr. Brown was the first one to speak up. "Annabeth, I must ask, is this pity or legitimacy?"

"Legitimacy, no questions asked," she replied without waiving. At that moment, I couldn't help feeling all jubilant on the inside. I couldn't sit still. I literally jumped up off of the sofa and went for the front door. I knew exactly where I was going.

As I closed the door, I saw Malcolm give me an approving smile.

**Annabeth **

It's done. The message was out now. Part of me felt relieved at the thought that Percy might now forgive me. My egocentric side, however, felt perturbed. What if I lost all of my fans by saying something like that?

As I walked down to the lobby, a few people gave me some quizzical looks. I tried my best to ignore them, but the intensity of a dozen people's glare was hard to evade.

I was beginning to wonder if telling everybody about Percy was a good idea. That thought vanished the second I took a step outside of the building.

"Not a bad speech for a Wise Girl," the raven-haired boy said in front of me. The sudden sight of him nearly toppled me over.

"Percy!" I shrieked in awe. "You saw the broadcast?"

"More or less," he replied. He took a few steps closer to me. "So, was that pity or legitimacy?" he quoted Dr. Brown.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again. It's legitimacy."

"Final answer?" he questioned me.

"Yes," I confidently answered.

There was a moment's pause while I waited for Percy to answer. When he didn't, I was thinking about apologizing for the events at _The Cuisine_. That thought drove away when Percy took my hand into his.

"Percy, what are you—"

Percy blinked. "You don't want to grab an Oreo Sundae?"

I stood there while my brain initialized Percy's words. Finally, with a gigantic grin, I nodded furiously as Percy gleefully led me to the ice cream parlor.

~0~

For the rest of that day, we were together doing a handful of ridiculous activities like chasing birds, arm wrestling (which I won at, surprisingly), and dodging dog poop as we ran across the sidewalks of New York. There wasn't a single second where I wasn't happy. Being with Percy made me joyous beyond belief.

We were heading back to my house. Of course, I couldn't let my family see him. Even after my appearance on The Brown Show, I doubt they'd accept him that easily.

When we were two blocks away from my house, we turned to each other to part ways.

"Well, today was…something," Percy put it lightly.

"Don't lie, Seaweed Brain. Today was crazy fun, and you know it!"

When Percy smiled down in defeat, a thought occurred to me. I wanted my relationship with Percy to be permanent. I wanted, no, **needed** to leave my mark on him.

"Give me your hand," I ordered him. He gave me a perplexed look but obeyed in the end. I took his arm into both of my hands and pulled up his arm sleeve. Taking a deep breath, I bit down on his arm as tightly as I could. I could hear him howling in intense pain, and I had to admit, I kind of felt bad. But this was necessary.

After five seconds of tight biting, I backed away. Looking back to his arm, I could see teeth marks deeply dented into his flesh. I was satisfied with myself.

"What the hell was that for?" Percy asked me hotly. I grinned at him.

"This is my Annabeth Marking. From now on, this bite mark indicates that you are mine. You are now property of Annabeth Chase."

"I'm a property now?" Percy asked in horror, although I could sense sarcasm in his voice. "At the least, you should let me return the favor."

I looked at him in fear. "No!"

"It's only fair!" he retorted.

"No, get away from me!" I laughed as I started running away. Before I knew it, we began a two hour chase game around the neighborhood. By the time we got too tired to play anymore, I was too weary to walk all the way home.

We found ourselves a nice tree and sat side by side each other, our backs against the tree. In no time at all, we fell into a relaxing sleep, our hands still intertwined with each other's.

**A/N: I told you guys at the beginning of the chapter that I'd talk about the flame review. There's really not much to say. For one, the fucks I'm giving about the flame is 0% to 0.1%. I really don't care. A bad flamer will always be a bad flamer. It's just one person, anyways. **

**If you guys are curious, insults aside, the only noteworthy points he made was calling my writing bad, my descriptions crappy, my dialogue vague, and Annabeth a Mary Sue. I just have one thing to say: Annabeth is no Mary Sue. First of all, for the story's purpose, she is supposed to be near perfect. It's necessary in a story like this. It's an intentional design. **

**Second, she DOES have flaws. One of her flaws is being too famous-happy, and the other one is her edgy relationship with her dad and Malcolm (but not anymore, at least with Malcolm…for now). **

**However, I'm not an ignorant fool. I looked at his flame from his point of view, and he actually peeked a little paranoia out of me. Maybe my descriptions ARE bad. Maybe my dialogues ARE vague. **

**This is where you guys come in. If you guys think I'm doing a good job, tell me via review or PM. If you guys think I need work, constructively criticize me then. If you guys think this story sucks, tell me and I'll stop it. We can all work this out peacefully. **

**-Jabba out. **


	9. Reunion

**A/N: Well, after a few grovels and death threats, I get the impression that this story is worth continuing. Thanks to all that reviewed! The last chapter was the most reviewed chapter yet! **

**Quick shout out to WiseGirlAndSeaweedBrain – Annabeth is not going to give up on Luke yet. Trust me, I already have their "breakup" planned out ;)**

**Annabeth**

It had been five months since I revealed Percy's true nature to all of New York. Surprisingly, everything went better than I anticipated. People were starting to accept Percy, although the process was very slow and demeaning.

Of course, not everybody loved Percy. In fact, a lot of New Yorkers still hated his guts. They would start false scandals and insult him whenever he walked passed their territory. Despite this, Percy somehow managed to maintain a gleeful attitude. That's Percy Jackson for you.

My personal relationship with Percy had skyrocketed over the past five months. Every morning, the first thing I'd think about when I woke up was Percy. The first thing I'd think about when I went to take a shower was Percy. The first thing I'd think about when I went to work was Percy. My mind reeled around Percy every single day over the course of these five months.

No longer could I live without Percy. He was now my oxygen – a necessity I couldn't live without. If I stayed for more than a day without him, I'd start to lose my sanity. Yes, it had gotten that bad.

It was a dangerous obsession, to be sure, but an inevitable one at the same time. There was no way to avoid bonding with him. Not when nearly every second of my life was spent with him.

The phrase "super best friends" couldn't even begin to describe my affair with him. Whether or not he knew it, we were a scratch away from trespassing on lover territory. Dangerously close.

I noticed this probability two months prior and tried my best to avoid him only to fail miserably. In the end, I came back wailing into his arms.

Nobody in my family (except Malcolm) took my speech about Percy very well. This was double for my mom. For some reason, she began acting strange and foreign once the news about Percy was out. She no longer looked at me with her caring and adoring eyes.

I would have been more upset if I didn't have Percy morally supporting me. Honestly, even if he wasn't cracking jokes or pulling pranks on me, he knew how to cheer me up. All he had to do was embrace me and tell me that even if nobody liked me, he'd still stay with me forever. Sappy of him, but sweet nonetheless.

"Annabeth?"

"Huh? What?" I buckled my head as I stared face to face with Percy.

"Are you alright?" he asked me in concern. "You dozed off for a minute there. I thought you died while standing or something."

"At least you care," I beamed. My hand made it over to his face and pinched it, making Percy squeal like a nine year old girl.

"Hey!" he swatted my hand away vigorously. "I'm no child!"

"So to speak," I teased.

"Whatever. Look, you ready to play some basketball or what?" he challenged me. My thoughts had made me forget that we were on our way to the basketball court. I gave him a rapacious smirk before I resumed walking.

"You have to be lenient," Percy reminded me. "This is my first time playing after all."

I scratched the edge of my jaw. "Hey, I'm not really that athletic either. I'm more of a book person."

"I like how you act like you're innocent," he taunted sarcastically, earning him a kick to the shin.

"Yep, no innocence," he added before he started limping. When we arrived, we saw two college students playing a friendly of basketball. One of them was a short Hispanic with a mohawk, and the other one was a tall African with a buzz cut. Whoever they were, they knew how to play basketball, that was for sure.

"Hey gorgeous," the Hispanic greeted me. I saw him give Percy a hostile look before returning his gaze on me.

The African man started whistling at me as he placed the basketball in between his arm and hip.

"Hi fellows," I smiled at them, although it wasn't genuine. Call it manners.

"Wanna play with us, babe?" the African asked me. I cringed. I hated being called "babe". I was no possession or slut, especially not to strangers. I didn't even like it when Luke called me that.

"That's a good idea!" Percy exclaimed. He probably had no idea what was going on between me and the two delinquents. "How about a two-on-two match?"

I was about to tell him that this was - more or less - our "date". Those two random guys weren't part of it. But then I saw the eagerness in his eyes and gave in like a child.

"Fine," I agreed. I was still cautious about the college students. My gut told me that they held no love for Percy. I was scared they'd hurt him and call it an "accident". That was more than enough for me to hate them.

The African looked at his buddy as if he wasn't expecting Percy to join. Assholes.

"Uh, okay," the Hispanic finally said unconvincingly. "How about a game to 10 points? Every shot is one point. There are no 3 point shots. Deal?"

"Deal!" Percy piped in before I could even say anything.

As we got to our starting positions in the court, I noticed the African man winking at me. Trying my best not to show any signs of hostility, I smiled back at him. I eventually looked away and quietly gagged in disgust. I wanted nothing to do with those hypocrites.

"Ready?" the Hispanic asked. Percy nodded furiously. The Hispanic threw the ball into the air. I had expected the "inexperienced" Percy to just stand there and watch the ball drop into his opponent's hand, but surprisingly, he jumped into the air and caught the ball before the Hispanic could even move.

I was temporarily dazed at his sudden understanding of basketball when Percy juked the confused Hispanic and African. As he neared the hoop, he took a rather trivial shot and managed to score.

Trivial or not, that was not at all what I had expected from him. How was he so good?

Percy must have seen my appalled expression, because he came over to me with his arms crossed.

"Surprised?" he asked me. I slowly nodded.

"Percy, I thought this was your first time playing!" I gaped at him.

"I lied," he stuck his tongue out at me. "This is actually my sixth time playing."

My shock suddenly turned into mass jealously. "With who? Was it a girl?"

"Not unless you count Malcolm as a girl," he joked. I felt my heart ease down. Figures it was Malcolm who taught him. "He taught me everything I needed to know. I wanted to surprise you today. I lied about this being my first game so that I could see the shock on your face. Boy, was it worth it!"

"Are you two done over there?" the African asked us in an annoyed tone.

"Uh, yeah," Percy called back. He turned back to me. "So, are you going to just stand there again or are you going to help me this time around?"

I rolled my eyes as I headed back to the starting position with Percy following suit. The Hispanic started to count down. The millisecond he said "one", he threw the ball up into the air. This time, he was prepared. The Hispanic, being more athletic than Percy was, managed to catch the ball first.

After giving Percy a rude shove, he started to dribble the ball towards our hoop, his African friend defending his rear. Percy was being stalled by the African, so it was up to me.

Obviously, directly trying to take the ball away from the Hispanic was a terrible idea. I was nowhere near as athletic as he was. I had to play hard to get.

I ran in front of the Hispanic in order to force him to look at me. Then, I gave him my best seductive smile.

He fell for it like the moron he was. He began to smile devilishly at me. I slowly strutted over towards him and leaned in to his ear.

"Nice moves, big boy," I purred in his ear. I saw goosebumps rising from the back of his neck, and before he could react, I snatched the ball away from his hands.

The African was too busy dealing with Percy to see me running towards his hoop. Man, I was playing against a bunch of idiots.

The hoop was directly above my head. I baby-hopped and dropped the ball into it, earning us our second point.

"Nice going, Wise Girl!" Percy complimented as he ran over towards me.

"All in a day's work," I flipped my hair sassily.

"Hey, no fair!" the Hispanic boy accused me as he walked up to us. "You seduced me!"

"It was your fault for falling for it," I retorted, much to his imminent displeasure. "Who asked you to be so easily aroused?"

"Fuck this, bro," his African told him. "Let's just leave."

Hesitantly, the Hispanic followed the African's advice and left without saying another word. I waved at them mockingly from behind.

"Well, that was awkward," Percy commented.

"There's nothing awkward about purposely humiliating a hooligan."

I looked over to Percy only to find him staring at me nervously. On instinct, I checked my face for any blemishes or sweat. God, the things Percy made me do when I was around him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him uncomfortably. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he realized that words failed him. Instead, he walked over to the lone bench on the basketball court and sat down. He covered his face with his hands miserably.

I took a seat next to him as I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. I felt him tense the second my hand made contact with his shoulder.

Eventually, he looked up at me with a distressed look. "Annabeth, I think it's time for me to tell you about my past."

I was taken aback by his sudden change of heart. When I asked him about his past in the past, he always coldly waived me off. What could have made him change all of the sudden?

Percy took a gigantic breath. "I had a mom when I was younger."

"She died?" I guessed sympathetically. I thought I was right, but I was wrong. Way wrong.

"No – at least I don't think she did," he answered calmly. "It wouldn't matter if she died or not. I wouldn't care."

What was going on? Why was Percy so dark when he told me these things? This was not the joyous and sappy Percy I knew and loved.

I heard him chuckle. He probably noticed my vexatious posture. "I guess I should elaborate."

"Good idea," I joked, although it really wasn't the time for a farce.

"My mom abused me when I was a child. She blamed her life of poverty on me. Hell, she even blamed my father's death on me, even though I was way too young to actually do any harm to him. She started to drink a lot, and with every sip she took, the crueler she became.

"She wasn't always like that. There was a time when she actually cared and loved me. After my dad died and she lost her job, things turned around for the worse. Daily beatings, denying my water and food, forcing me to steal things. Those were some of the things she made me go through when I was younger.

"When I was nine years old, she finally snapped. After my daily torment, she left. That was it. No words. No nothing. She just left me there to fend for myself.

"You once asked me how I became like this. Truth be told, my mom abusing me and leaving me to die was the primary reason why. Depression and lack of education turned me into a 'stain'."

My mind was reeling itself. At first, I thought Percy became like this because he was a school dropout. I never expected him to have an outrageously abusive mom. Whoever this woman was deserved to burn in hell for all of eternity.

"You also asked me why I hated beautiful people," Percy continued to pour his heart out. "My mom…she was beyond beautiful. Before she became abusive and evil, her gorgeous smile always made my day. When I was younger, nobody was as beautiful as she was in my eye.

"That was when I was younger. I already found somebody even more beautiful than she was."

"W-who is it?" I stuttered, my guess already registered in my mind. My heart began to pound rapidly. I could feel sweat collecting on the palm of my hands.

"Piper," he answered. I stood up and narrowed my eyes at him viciously. When he had the look of confusion on his face, I began to throw a tantrum. I know I shouldn't have, seeing as it wasn't exactly his fault for having an honest opinion, but his answer started a dangerous engine inside of me.

"You bastard!" I screamed at him as I started slamming my fists down on his chest. "You jerk! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Of course, I didn't mean any of it. In fact, I wanted to take the words back as soon as I said them. Thankfully, but weirdly enough, Percy didn't take any of them to heart.

"I'm just saying the truth," Percy told me. "Why are you getting all upset?"

I searched my brain for a non-embarrassing reply, but none came. How could I reply without humiliating myself any further?

I guess I was used to being called "the most beautiful girl in existence" by other guys. I probably wasn't used to sharing the limelight with other girls. Geez, was I still that selfish?

"You know, come to think of it, you kind of remind me of my mom. Both of you have stormy grey eyes."

I didn't say anything back. I was still perturbed by our previous topic.

"Annabeth," I heard him say. His tone captured my attention. He sounded nervous and scared. "Do you remember me telling you five months ago that I loved you?"

My cheeks started to grow shades of red. "Yeah, I do. I asked you about it a few times, but you shrugged me off every time."

"Well, there's a reason why I shrugged it off like I did."

"No, really?" I pestered him with great sarcasm.

"Annabeth, you know me. Concepts like love and hate are eccentric in my eyes. They're confusing as hell. Piper tried explaining to me the different types of love you can feel towards another human being. I didn't get it back then, and I still don't. I don't know if I ever will. I do know for a fact that I love you, Annie-Wanie, although I'm not sure what type of love it is."

I swallowed a load of saliva when he finished his speech. I wasn't sure how to reply to a confession like that.

Percy stood up beside me and placed both of his hands on my shoulders. He stared at me bizarrely. It was as if he was trying to find a wordless answer in my eyes.

I lost my mind when I felt his lips on mine.

**Percy **

This kiss felt very different from the one I shared with Piper. That kiss had next to zero meaning and/or purpose. I kissed her out of curiosity, nothing else. Sharing one Annabeth was a completely different story. The kiss bore immeasurable amounts of passion and pleasure. It got to the point where I refused to let go, even when Annabeth tried to push me away.

I held onto her hips and tried to deepen the kiss, despite her resistance. God help me, I was probably doing a horrible job at kissing her. But hey, it was my first **real **kiss, so lay off.

Annabeth was painfully against the idea at first. She was constantly trying to push me away. I probably should have heeded her warning at the time. I knew what kissing somebody on the lips symbolized, and I knew that she had a husband. But I couldn't pull away, no matter how hard I tried.

She eventually began to give in, and I surprisingly felt her kiss me back. She threw her arms around my neck as she too tried to deepen the kiss.

There were no words to describe the kiss. The kiss packed an unbearable amount of emotion. Time faded faster than the wind as the kiss went on.

After a very, **very **long kiss, Annabeth regained her sanity and forcefully pushed me away. Before I could register what had happened, she slapped me across the face, my cheek stinging like mad.

Grabbing my face, I slowly glanced over at her. I expected her to look at me angrily. Instead, I was presented with a very confused and baffled facial expression.

The sudden perception of guilt and shame hit me vigorously. I wanted to apologize, but I was scared that if I tried to say something, she'd run away and leave me again. I couldn't allow that. I lost her before, and that was painful enough. I didn't need to feel that torment again.

I felt Annabeth slap me once again, this time on the other cheek. If I had to choose, I'd take a thousand slaps over her leaving me any day.

I saw Annabeth open her mouth in preparation for probably a lecture, but instead, she started to cry.

"Percy, what do I do?" she cried. "I love you, Percy! I love you so much! But I can't be unfaithful to Luke! He hasn't done anything wrong to me! He's done nothing but care and love me since I met him! Cheating on him is like stabbing him in the back!"

That was the first time I felt it. The abrupt feeling of jealousy surged through my veins. My heart clenched as she continued to defend Luke. I knew I was completely missing her point, but that didn't and couldn't change the angst I felt.

Jealously only arises after you love someone. That settled it, then: I loved Annabeth Chase. More than I ever knew I did. Was this the love that Piper was talking about?

I couldn't say or think of anything else before Annabeth sprinted away from me. I should have expected that response from her. Was I wrong though? Love was uncontrollable, or so I hear. It could emerge between two people who absolutely despised each other. It wasn't my fault, was it?

It didn't matter anymore. Annabeth left, and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see her again.

**Annabeth**

After barging into my house, I promptly searched for Luke. He was sitting on the sofa, watching the Super Bowl on TV. He looked at me quizzically when he saw me panting.

I ran over to him and kissed him hard. I could feel the surprise Luke had when our lips connected, but that quickly died down. He started to kiss me back.

Nothing.

It was gone. That sensation I felt whenever I kissed him in the past was completely gone. There was no emotion in the kiss, at least not to me. Where was the passion? Where was the affection? It seemingly degraded after kissing Percy.

I backed away from him gently, my eyes darting towards the ground. I couldn't stare him in the eye. He'd probably see regret in me.

"What's up with you today?" Luke asked me with a sly smirk. I was in no mood to joke, but I had to play along to destroy any dose of suspicion.

"I just missed you," I lied.

"Already? It's only been a few hours."

"I think we should move our wedding closer," I blurted out. Luke peered at me in dismay. The sudden and complete change in topic caught him off guard. I nodded to confirm my statement.

"How come, sweetheart?" he asked me innocently.

"I…I just want to marry you as soon as possible," I answered nervously. "I mean, we already both love each other. There's no point in delaying the wedding any further. Why, do you disagree with my idea?"

"No, of course not! In fact, you were the one who chose the wedding date in the past. It's just weird how you want to change it out of the blue."

"So you agree, right?" I asked impatiently.

"Sure," Luke agreed. "Any specific date in mind? Be warned, I am very busy the next two weeks, so I—"

"Then we'll have our wedding the day you're free," I added in quickly – probably too quickly for my own good. He didn't seem to notice it, though.

I didn't feel like talking to anybody anymore. I swiftly planted a kiss on his cheek before heading up the stairs and into my room. I fell on my bed and shoved my pillow in my face. I screamed as loud as I could, the majority of the noise muffled by the pillow.

The image of Percy grabbing me by both shoulders and shoving his lips onto mine kept replaying itself in my mind. I tried to think about anything else, but the damn event wouldn't leave my mind. It was like a curse I'd probably have to suffer with for the rest of my life.

For nearly the rest of the day, I did frivolous activities like reading books and texting a few colleagues, all in attempt to forget about Percy. That didn't happen, however. No matter what activity I was doing, Percy kept popping in and out of my mind.

"Annabeth," I heard someone knock on my door. I looked up to see a refreshing sight: Malcolm.

"Hey Malcolm!" I exclaimed happily for the first time since I kissed Percy.

"Just letting you know that it's time for dinner," he told me.

"Sure, but um…Malcom?" I asked as I started twirling my fingers around each other.

"What's up?"

"Can I talk to you after dinner? I need somebody to hear me out, and I can't think of anybody I'd rather tell than you."

Malcolm raised his eyebrow in amusement. "Not even Luke?"

"Definitely not Luke," I added.

"Sure, Annie. You can tell me anything, anytime," Malcolm offered rather cheesily. Despite that, I adored his kind intentions. I got up out of my bed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks for being there for me when I need you, Malcolm," I thanked with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, now let's go downstairs. Dinner's not going to finish itself," Malcolm snickered. He took my hand and led me down the stairs.

Although my short interaction with Malcolm temporarily cheered me up, it didn't last forever. By the time I took my first bite of macaroni and cheese, I was depressed all over again. The food was great, but my appetite seemed to had died.

My mom sat down after handing the rest of the family their meals. I didn't know why, but she looked very glum and gloomy. She didn't say a single word during dinner, not even the standard "how was work?" question.

If it wasn't for Luke and Malcolm's conversation about football, the dinner table would have been dead silent. I occasionally tried to join the conversation, but football was not my thing. I got nearly every statement wrong.

"You guys continue to eat," my mom spoke for the first time. "I'm heading upstairs. I'm kind of tired."

"You okay, ma?" Malcolm asked her concerned. We were all concerned, even my dad, who I didn't even know cared for the family.

"Yes sweetie," my mom said with a tired smile. "Just not feeling too great today."

"Well, take a breather, hon," my dad reassured my mom. "If you need to, you can call in sick tomorrow."

"It's fine. It's probably only temporary," my mom replied. With a final nod, she began to walk up the stairs.

"Have you guys noticed how…different she is?" Luke asked the table softly when my mom was out of earshot.

"You noticed it too, huh?" I asked him skeptically.

"So did I," my dad agreed. "I don't know how to describe her now. 'Quiet' is probably the best word."

"There's something more. She's upset about something," I analyzed.

"About what?" Malcolm asked me. I shrugged.

"Dunno," I answered.

We all stopped guessing when we heard the doorbell ring. Malcolm civilly excused himself from the table and went to answer the door.

"Hey Percy, you're here!" Malcolm proclaimed blissfully.

**Percy**

"You think I'm going to deny an invitation to play Left 4 Dead with my best guy friend?" I commented. "Dream on, Chase."

I took a look behind him and saw everybody at the dinner table. Even Annabeth.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" I asked Malcolm.

"Yes, you are," Luke tried provoking me.

"No, you're not," Malcolm countered. "Don't worry, you won't be a bother. You're going to be in my room the whole time, so you won't have the opportunity to annoy anybody."

"Thanks," I grinned at him.

"Come on in," he said as he stepped aside for me. I politely entered the building. I was on my way to the staircase when I took a gander at the dinner table.

Luke looked at me with a hostile scowl. There was no doubt that I was ruining his day. Score for me.

The old man, who I assumed to be Annabeth and Malcolm's father, looked at me with distaste. I recognized that look. It was the look I grew up recognizing. The man stared at me like I wasn't worth more than a grain of sand.

And Annabeth…she didn't even look at me. I could tell that my presence was making her feel uncomfortable. In all honesty, I couldn't blame her for treating me that way. I tried to make a move on her after all, despite the fact that she had a fiancée.

I took my first step on the staircase when I heard Malcolm's dad speak to me.

"Come here, freak," the man had said. Freak, huh? How original. I slowly stepped back down and trekked over to the dinner table. I could see Annabeth quivering as I approached her.

"Who do you think you are?" the man disdainfully asked me. "Who are you to step inside of Chase property?"

"I invited him over," Malcolm defended me to my relief.

"And did I allow this action?" Mr. Chase asked his son.

"No, and I don't care whether or not you allow it," Malcolm responded. His demeanor surprised me. It surprised his father even more. "Surprised" probably wasn't the right word to describe his father's current emotion. "Furious" was more like it.

"Are you talking back to me, Malcolm Rubio Chase?" his father questioned brutally.

"Yes, I am," Malcolm spit back boldly. "I'm twenty-six years old. I have the right and the freedom to make my own decisions. Who I befriend and what I do with them doesn't concern you in the slightest."

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Mr. Chase shouted ferociously.

"I'm tired of the way you lard around my life, controlling every aspect of it. When I was younger, I listened to every demand you made, no matter how ridiculous or tedious they were. That was then. Now, I'm a grown man. You can't control every phase of my life anymore."

Instead of yelling at Malcolm, he turned his heinous attention over towards me. "Look at what you've done! You've destroyed my son's obedience! He never argued with me in the past!"

"Stop blaming him!" Malcolm screamed. "He—"

"What's going on down here?" I heard a woman's voice utter from the top of the stairs. I saw somebody walk down the staircase, but the shadows from the walls of the staircase covered her upper body, preventing any type of identification.

"Honey, come down here and teach your son some manners! While you're at it, kick this stooge out of the house!" Mr. Chase ordered her. I was getting tired of his constant bickering. He even yelled at his own wife. What a douche!

"Malcom, wha-" she began to say before her eyes caught mine.

"Mom, please. This is my business. Please don't get included," Malcolm begged his mom.

Silence.

"Did you hear me, woman?!" Mr. Chase shouted at her. "Kick him out of the house NOW!"

Silence.

"Mom?" Annabeth asked her uneasily. "Mom!"

Silence.

"Percy?" the woman finally whispered. The horror in her eyes was evidently clear.

The hatred in my eyes was evidently clear.

I was staring face to face with my mom.

**A/N: I have a couple of things to say:**

******I have the ending of this story already planned out. I hope you guys like tear-jerking/bittersweet endings ;D**

**School is starting very soon. Once it does, chapters will inevitably take longer to be uploaded. I'll try my best to update as soon as I can, but please don't be surprised if it takes a month. I'm not saying that it will necessarily take a month. Just keep your head up and I'll eventually update.**

**I know there are a lot of loopholes in this cliffhanger, but fret not: I'll fix/clear them up in the next few chapters. **

**As much as I adore reviews like "This story is amazing!" or "OMG BEST STORY EVER!", I'm in dire need of some constructive criticism. This chapter honestly pissed me off. You have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter. I nearly gave up halfway through. Everything felt rushed and sloppy. Hell, I was too lazy to give the Hispanic and the African names. Please tell me if I need to improve!**

**As always, follow, favorite, and review!**

**-Jabba out. **


	10. Crisis

**A/N: I sincerely and deep-heartedly apologize for this chapter's gigantic tardy. In my defense, however, I did warn you guys that school is a massive writer's block. I can't type more than 200 words for this story without procrastinating about school. Once again, I'm sorry. Thank you all for your patience. I honestly appreciate it. **

**Percy**

"_Mommy, I'm hungry," little 6 year old me whined to my mom. "Can you pwease make your delicious seafood pasta?" _

_Mom squatted down on her knees and ruffled my hair, much to my annoyance. She grinned at me when she saw the discontent on my face. _

"_Sure baby boy," my mom said. "Let's just wait for your father to come home first, okay?" _

_With a hearty groan, I nodded and glumly turned towards my room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard somebody bashing loudly on our front door. _

_I looked over at my mom to see her give me the same concerned expression. She went to answer the door. I sat by patiently, shuffling my feet in curiosity as I did so. _

_The door opened to a funny looking dude. He was dressed in all blue and had a badge on the side of his chest. My mom called him a "police officer". I was way too young to understand what that was. _

"_Yes?" my mom asked the police officer. "Is something wrong?" _

"_Mrs. Jackson, am I right?" the cop questioned. My mom gave a slight nod to confirm her identity. "I'm sorry to say this, but…" _

"_What is it?" my mom asked. The glum and pitiful look the cop gave my mom scarred me for life. _

"_I'm sorry to say this – truly, I am," the cop began. Mom held in her breath. "But your husband is dead. Somebody slammed into the side of his car, sending your husband's own car sailing across the bridge, finally exploding as it impacted the solid concrete column." _

_~0~_

"_Mom! Stop! That hurts!" I laid on the floor, hollowing in immense pain. Mom didn't hesitate. She gave me another hefty kick to the stomach before taking another sip of her vodka. Vodka: the sole substance that transformed my angel of a mom into the devil of the night. _

_No words. No nothing; only another kick to the face, causing me to faint for the twelfth time that month. _

_~0~_

"_Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Percy; Happy Birthday to me," I sung tonelessly as my wound started to reopen. Before I had a chance to eat the cupcake in my hand (which I stole from the local bakery), blood began to gush out of my bandage. Feeling drained, I dropped the cupcake on the ground before passing out once again. _

_~0~_

"_Mom, I'm home," I whimpered out. I honestly didn't want another beating. My voice echoed along the halls of the house. _

_No answer. _

_I checked the kitchen. _

_Nobody was there. _

_I checked all of the bedrooms and bathrooms. _

_Nobody was there. _

_I checked the basement and garage. _

_Nobody was there. _

_Did she go out? That was peculiar. She usually never left the house unless she wanted more booze, and last time I checked, she had enough to last a few months. _

_I sat down on the floor, seeing as all of the chairs, sofas, and couches were destroyed thanks to my mom. I winced in pain when my butt made contact with the ground. I forgot that mom had kicked my ass the previous day. Literally. _

_One day past; no sign of her._

_Two days past; still no sign of her. _

_Three days past; still no sign of her. _

_By the fourth day, I knew what had happened. Mom abandoned me, leaving me to fend for myself against the dangerous and perilous city of New York. _

**End Flashback**

I looked away from my mom's eyes. The longer I stared into them, the more I wanted to destroy the house I stood in. So, mom abandoned me and the memory of my dad by marrying a rich slob, and eventually, brought Annabeth and Malcolm into the world.

I clenched my fist, but that was not enough to sustain my increasing temper. I punched a nearby wall. I was surprised when I broke it. I didn't know I had the strength to do such a feat. Of course, my hand hurt. Hell, it even bled. I was sure my knuckles were all shattered. That didn't matter. The emotional numbness caused by seeing "her" again freed me from all possible physical pain.

"What did you just say?" Annabeth whispered at me. That was the first time she spoke to me since I kissed her. Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine with it. Hell, I would have been shivering with happiness.

Not anymore. I didn't know why, but my anger was directed towards Annabeth. Malcolm, too. Hell, it was directed at everybody!

I turned without a single word and headed towards the front door. It took all of my might to soothe the burning hatred I held up inside of me.

Malcolm stood in my way and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I briefly glared at him demonically before finally snapping. I jabbed him in the stomach hard. At the time, I felt no ounce of regret for my audacious action. My anger blocked out my conscious entirely.

I heard frivolous noises coming from the rest of the Chase family – probably in concern for Malcolm – but I couldn't care less. I continued past the slightly injured Malcolm and went straight towards the door.

I suddenly stopped unwillingly. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move my feet. Then, I felt a burning sensation inside of my stomach. Immediately, I knew. Cancer was finally catching up with me.

I grabbed my stomach as subtle as possible. I didn't want anybody to see my moment of weakness. I started to limp towards the door. My limping must have been obvious, because I heard Annabeth ask me whether or not I was alright from behind me.

I ignored her. I endured the agony in my stomach and continued on limping. I was nearly there; a hand reach away. Destiny had a funny way of treating me. As soon as I touched the doorknob, I felt something pop inside of my stomach.

There was no words to describe the internal pain I was experiencing. All of the beatings I had received during my lifetime couldn't even compare to this.

Time died down as I fell face-first on the frame of the door. If cancer wasn't going to kill me, my new head concussion would.

The last thing I saw before completely blacking out was Annabeth and Malcolm running over towards me. Even my mom.

~0~

"_What do you mean by 'disabled?'" _

"_Oh God, Percy wake up!"_

"_Quick! Bring in the doctor! Percy is spazzing out!" _

My mind woke up before my body did. I could hear all of the voices, and to be honest, it gave me a severe headache. Or maybe it was my head concussion that was giving me a headache.

In time, my eyes deliberately opened itself to a breathtaking sight: Piper. I was beyond glad to see her. I had expected to wake up to Annabeth's or Malcolm's face. Needless to say, seeing them would only ruin the rest of my day.

Piper's beautiful smile literally fed me strength out of thin air. I found it easier to shuffle around on my bed. I could move my limbs with greater ease. It was as if a heavy burden was all of the sudden lifted off of my shoulders.

I felt something tangled in my hand. Casually looking over, I saw Piper's hand intertwined with mine.

"You don't mind, do you?" Piper asked me when she noticed me staring at our conjoined hands.

"Not really," I replied. "I actually prefer it this way. It makes me feel better."

"Good to hear," Piper smiled, tightening her grip on my hand.

"Doesn't this bring back memories? Here I am, nearly on the brink of death, and here you are, caretaking for me. Deja vu, am I right?"

Piper pushed a strand of her delicate brown hair behind her right ear. "To be fair, Perseus, I've only been here for half a day. I've been busy with other patients. Annabeth has been taking care of you the rest of the time."

My eye twitched at the abrupt Annabeth reference. I looked up at the ceiling and remained deathly silent.

"Um, do you mind telling me what happened between you and Anna—"

"Shut up! Don't talk about her!" I snapped at her brutally. Merely looking at her trembling eyes made me feel liable. My vile rudeness put Osama Bin Laden to shame. I wished I had a gun to shoot myself.

"Piper, wait, I'm sorry," I began to say as I continued to mentally scold myself. "I didn't mean to yell at you. This whole matter with Annabeth is very touchy. I'd rather not get into it right now."

Piper sluggishly nodded, but I could tell that she was still terrified of me. Great, I made the last person I cared about fear me. Just spectacular.

"You hate me now, don't you?" I mumbled. Piper quickly averted her eyes towards me and began to shake her head rapidly.

"No! I don't hate you! It's just…I'm not really fond of **that** side of you. You know, the angry one."

I was about to apologize again, but I realized something then and there. Apologizing would mean absolutely nothing. Words couldn't repay the gigantic debt I owed her. It didn't even feel like a million dollars could pay my debt to her.

"Piper, I can't believe I had the balls to scold you even though I owe you so much."

"Oh, here we go again," Piper rolled her eyes.

"I'm dead serious, Pipes," I firmly stated. She half-heartedly smiled at my nickname for her. "You're hurting me more by neglecting my payment."

"If you're straining yourself that much just to pay me back, fine. By all means, pay me back," Piper said plainly.

"What do you want? Even if you want me to steal from Obama himself, I'll do it."

Piper frowned at my response. "Percy, when you put it like that, I—"

The unprecedented noise of the room door slamming open cut her off mid-speech. Annabeth stood at the doorway, staring at me. I could see relief in her eyes, but there was something else. When she saw my hand intertwined with Piper's, I could see hurt pooling up somewhere amongst her mysterious grey eyes.

Piper noticed this almost instantly and took her hand away from mine. I had to admit, the sudden retreat made me feel a bit bitter. I needed some comfort, both physically and emotionally.

I forced myself to look away from Annabeth. Seeing her again did nothing more than damper my temporary good mood. I felt a slight ounce of guilt, seeing as Annabeth had taken care of me since the day I was unconscious, but my darker side completely annihilated that guilt.

"We'll discuss that 'debt' you owe me later," Piper commented. She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hurry up and recover, okay?"

"Okay," I grinned at her. Piper had a beautiful charm to go along with her beautiful face. Something about her made me happy. Maybe it was her unwavering sweetness. Maybe it was her captivating voice.

Piper gave me a quick smile before leaving. She nodded at Annabeth as she walked passed her.

That just left me and Annabeth alone. I moderately shivered at the thought of being alone with her again. This was the last thing I needed. You might as well have placed a nuke in my mouth and shoved your middle finger in my face.

"How are you feeling?" Annabeth asked me nervously. She walked over towards me and sat on the chair Piper had sat on. Her strawberry perfume gave me a lot of nostalgia. It made me recall all of the things we did together, from running through the local park playing tag to a water balloon fight on the hospital parking lot.

I remained silent. I turned my head away from her, purposefully ignoring her presence.

"You hate me now," she muttered. She gave a small, weak laugh. "This isn't the first time either."

I continued the silent treatment. When she didn't reply, I felt my throat constrain itself. That was when I realized that I was being a little too harsh on her. It wasn't really her fault. If anything, it was my mom's. Maybe I should give her a chance.

However, no matter how I looked at it, there was no denying that my mom was her mom as well. Technically, she was my sister, and being framed of incest with my own sister is the last thing I wanted to be accused of before I died.

Love. Did I still love her?

What did it matter? She made it abundantly clear that Luke was her one true love. My love was obsolete to her.

"Me and Luke are getting married in one week," Annabeth blurted out.

I guessed I should have seen it coming. After all, they've been engaged for a long time. Despite that fact, my heart still throbbed. Once she got married, her signature would have been signed in solid ink. My miniscule chance with her would have died.

Part of me wanted to tell her that I didn't want her to get married to him, but in reality, my words would have meant nothing. I had already damaged our relationship beyond repair. She wouldn't listen to me.

"I wish you two the best of luck," I finally spoke, although my voice was slightly hoarse. Annabeth didn't seem to notice it, though.

"Thanks," she said. That ended the conversation between us. The empty gap was filled with awkwardness, a feeling I never thought I'd feel with her again.

"You were my doctor, weren't you?" I asked her without a definitive tone.

"Yeah, I was," she answered.

"So how much time do I have left before…you know."

Silence.

"There's no need to hold back," I reassured her. "Better to know now then to die without warning."

Annabeth bit her lip. My question was obviously paining her. "Two months."

I didn't know why, but I couldn't help but smile at her answer. Maybe it was the fact that I was tired of being scared of death. Maybe it was time to embrace it instead of fearing it. "So, the time shortened, did it now?"

"The other doctors told me that your stomach tumors—" Annabeth began before I cut her off.

"I don't care what the other doctors say. I'm going to die either way, right? That's that, then. The explanation is unnecessary."

"Why aren't you upset?" she asked me. She sounded more mad than concerned. "We—I mean you haven't completed your list yet!"

Heh. The list. She still remembered that? The list didn't matter anymore. I lost whatever will I had to live.

"Annabeth," I breathed. "I don't want to live anymore."

**Annabeth**

I jumped up out of my seat and slapped Percy straight across the face. Contextually, that was a bad idea. Slapping a patient that was diagnosed with cancer was rude to say the least. In the end, though, that didn't matter. Merely by saying those words, Percy had buried me in an inescapable hole.

Percy didn't even bother holding his cheek. His face was emotionless. His reaction only escalated my anger.

"Keep going," Percy whispered. "Don't stop. Slap me until I die."

SLAP!

This next slap was even harder than the previous one. All of my anger and emotional torment went into that slap. Before I knew it, I started to lose my bearing. My legs started to buckle. My eyes started to water. Percy really wanted to die.

"You want to call me selfish?!" I screamed at him. "Look in the mirror! How dare you admit to me that you want to die?! Have you thought about how Malcolm would feel if you died?! Have you thought about how Piper would feel if you died?! Have you thought about how **I** would feel if you died?"

"Have you thought about how I feel?!" Percy hissed harshly. "I'm a living time bomb waiting to go off! What do you want me to do, huh? Count the days until I die?"

"So you're saying there's no reason to live anymore?" I spat back. "Nobody matters to you anymore? Nothing matters to you anymore? Didn't you say in the past that you wanted to 'live a normal life'?"

"I tried to start a normal life. You were there with me nearly the whole entire way. I thought I could escape my past and truly start an alternative life. That is until I met my…**our **mom. Now, I don't even know if I want to escape it anymore."

"You're going to give up? Just like that? That's not the Percy Jackson I know," I pointed out.

"And who is the Percy Jackson you know? There is only one Percy Jackson, and you're staring straight at him," Percy said.

"I digress. The Percy Jackson I know is the guy I played basketball with a few days ago. The Percy Jackson I know is bright and gleeful. The Percy Jackson I know…" I haltered. My breath stopped itself for a split second. "The Percy Jackson I know is the guy I fell in love with."

Percy buckled at my answer, but eventually regained his annoyed face. "Didn't you just tell me that you were going to marry Luke? Now you're confessing your love for me? Are you fucking crazy?"

"I pushed the wedding closer because I was scared of betraying Luke. I wanted to cement my relationship with him before I made a wrong move."

"You're making a wrong move now, Wise Girl," he mumbled back at me. That was the first time he called me Wise Girl since the day he kissed me. It sounded just as majestic as it did all of those months ago. It would have brought a tear to my eye if I wasn't arguing with him.

Before I could refute him, my attention averted itself to the sound of the door opening.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" an Asian doctor asked me when he saw us.

"No." I exhaled. "I was about to leave."

"Didn't seem like it," Percy mumbled softly. The doctor didn't seem to had heard him.

"Well, I'm Dr. Cheng," the doctor introduced himself. "I'm a new doctor. Today is my first day working here. Would it be okay if I privately run a diagnostic on his condition?"

"By all means," I nodded. The doctor made way for me as I walked out of the room. I closed the door behind me and kicked a nearby flower pot in anger.

"Stupid Percy," I grunted. "Wanting to kill himself…dick-face…no good son of a bitch…faggo—"

Little did I know, there was a little boy who looked no older than ten standing next to me.

"Oh Jesus, I'm sorry you had to hear all of that," I apologized to the boy.

"What do those words mean?" the boy asked me innocently. I must have seemed like a horrible person, ruining a child's purity with my foul remarks.

"Nothing, I was just babbling," I lied. "Anyways, what are you doing here all by yourself? Where are your parents?"

"My dad just entered the room you left," the boy told me. I found myself smiling at the boy.

"You're dad's the doctor I just met, huh?" I laughed. The boy nodded, although his eyes were still glued onto me.

"You're pretty," the boy told me nonchalantly. I ruffled his hair at the compliment, making him frown.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I grinned at him. "Why don't you wait for your father here? I need to go home now."

"Okay then," he said, finally pulling his eyes away from me. I could have sworn I saw a tad of annoyance in the corner of his eye. I must have been hallucinating.

"Wait, before I go. What's your name?" I asked him. Without looking at me, he said "Peter". I gave him my name in return, although it looked as though he didn't give a damn, and waved him a goodbye before leaving for real.

Upon exiting the hospital, I met Malcolm, who was talking to a few college girls. The girls seemed to be all over him, albeit Malcolm looked as though he would explode out of boredom at any given second.

"Malcolm!" I called out to him. He turned around towards me, and upon seeing me, he put on the most relieved smile I had ever seen him conjure.

"There you are, sis!" he said, jogging towards me. The girls were seemingly angry at losing another "target", but they eventually walked away.

"Thanks for the save," Malcolm beamed at me.

"Who said I was trying to save you?" I winked. "I just wanted a ride home."

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "What a knee slapper. So, you legitly need a ride home?"

"You brought me here, remember? Unless you want me to walk 100 miles, which would be a bad choice, driving me home would be the most viable answer."

"Alright, Cinderella, let's go." He gestured me towards his sports car. "On the way back, tell me about Percy. I didn't get to visit him today."

"Sure, whatever," I said quickly. I really didn't want to talk about Percy. At least not yet. I didn't need to be reminded that he wanted to kill himself.

The ride back was, inevitably, filled to the brim with random conversations. At first, Malcolm had tried to persuade me into talking about Percy. I brought down the topic with random ones, like tennis. Eventually, he got tired of trying to charm me and started randomly making up stupid topics too.

After about fifteen minutes, Malcolm started to slow the car down. He looked out of his window peculiarly. I followed the trajectory of his gaze and found myself staring at "Willow's Flower Shop".

"Why are you staring at Willow's Flower Shop?" I asked.

"Do you want to go in and buy a gift basket for Percy?" Malcolm offered me. I pondered that thought carefully. I was scared of going back to Percy so soon. No doubt he was pissed at me. Then again, offering a gift had a good chance of lifting the strange and heavy tension between us.

I must have taken too long to come up with an answer, seeing as Malcolm already parked in Willow's Flower Shop's parking lot. Without telling me ahead of time, he opened the door and walked into the shop. I scrambled to catch up with him when I saw him disappear behind the shop's front door.

When I walked into the building, I saw Malcolm at the front desk talking to some chick. Malcolm looked like he was trying to buy something, but the girl seemed too dazed at Malcolm's hotness. Or at least that's what most girl had called him.

"Ma'am?" I heard Malcolm ask the girl. "Did you hear my question? What would be the best present to give a hospitalized patient who is about to die from cancer?"

I felt my heart fall at his words. Sadly, they were true. Percy was at death's door, and there was nothing I could do to stop him from dying. I felt useless, especially since I was a doctor. I wished all of those years at medical school could have taught me to treat someone with cancer.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm called out to me.

He seemed to had finally noticed my presence. I looked up at him with fake confidence. "Hm?"

"A little help?" Malcolm whispered, nudging his head towards the girl who was practically drooling at him.

I rolled my eyes. "Coming."

The girl didn't notice me approach the counter. Upon closer inspection, I saw that her line of sight was directed towards Malcolm's groin area. I honestly didn't have the time nor the patience to wait until she got bored of staring at Malcolm's "prize", so I slammed the countertop as hard as I could.

That got her attention. Her head swung towards me with inhumane speed. I thought her neck was going to snap when she turned around.

"What?" she asked me rather hastily.

"I have a patient who is going to…d-die from cancer soon," I stuttered. "I was wondering what would be the best gift to give to him before he…leaves."

"Oh," the girl commented. "Uh, sorry?"

Her cluelessness made me want to shove a pen down her throat, but I managed to suppress my anger. Without another word, the girl pointed towards a gift basket isle. Nodding my thanks, I took Malcolm's hand and walked over towards the gift baskets.

"Let's see here…" I said, eyeing all of the possible gift baskets. "Which one should I get for Percy?"

"Does he like pears and oranges?" Malcolm pointed at a gift basket filled halfway with pears and oranges.

"He likes oranges, but not pears," I answered. I knew that because Percy and I went out on a fruit eating spree one day, and nearly ¾ of Percy's plate was filled with oranges. When asked, he told me that he despised pears.

"What about this one?" Malcolm asked again, pointing towards a basket with apples and grapes.

"He hates both of those," I told him. Before Malcolm could offer any other ideas, something caught my attention. Looking out the window, I saw an ice cream parlor. A wild smile appeared on my face.

"Malcolm," I said, "I know what to get for Percy."

~0~

"Say hi to him for me, would ya?" Malcolm told me as I exited his car.

"Kay," I said, closing the car door. "Sit tight while I give this Oreo Sundae to him. It shouldn't take long."

"Man, I want an Oreo Sundae…" Malcolm whined.

"Sucks to be you, doesn't it?" I teased. "Alright, I'm going now. See you in a bit."

I ran into the hospital and found Piper writing something in the corner of the room. I slowly walked behind her and took a peek at what she was writing. It was a "get well" card for Percy. I didn't know if a card could make a dying patient feel better, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

"Hey hey hey, Pipes," I tapped on her shoulder playfully. Piper jumped at my touch, but she eased down when she identified my voice.

"Annabeth," she breathed. "You know I'm easy to scare, yet you still do that."

I laughed. "It's fun. Anyways, I see you're making a card for Percy."

Piper smiled down at her card. "Yeah. I know it's not much, but I hope it at least makes him feel better."

"I'm sure he'll love it," I reassured her. "By the way, is Dr. Cheng still running his diagnostic on Percy?"

"Who?" Piper asked me.

"Dr. Cheng. The new doctor who just arrived today?"

She blinked. "Annabeth, I'm in charge of all new recruits in this hospital. There is no Dr. Cheng."

There wasn't a Dr. Cheng? Who did I meet in Percy's room then?

I heard somebody scream behind me.

"Help! Patient 401 – Percy Jackson – is missing!"

**A/N: Go on. Tell me how bad this chapter is compared to the other ones. I can take it. I'm a man. More or less lol. **

**-Jabba out. **


	11. A Gift

**A/N: I have zero excuses for this way-overdue chapter. The only thing I can offer is an apology and a way to make up for my tardiness. Read the bottom of this chapter to learn more about it. If you still care enough, enjoy! **

**Annabeth**

I collapsed on my bed and attempted to sleep my frustration and misery away. It had been four days since Percy was officially declared as missing. Ever since then, my schedule had been the same: Wake up in the morning, ditch work, go around town and ask random people about Percy's current location, fail to gather any good information, go home crying. This was the basic gist of my day-to-day schedule.

I completely lost the will to do anything. Nothing was worth doing anymore. I couldn't focus enough to read books. I was way too depressed to hang out with my friends, including Luke. I even lost interest in architecture, which had been a long time hobby of mine.

Piper was no better. Every time I saw her, she looked as though she had just emerged from her grave. She never flashed her delicate smile anymore. Her eyes were full of sorrow. Then again, I was no better.

Malcolm showed more restraint and fortitude than the both of us combined. Although Percy's disappearance made a toll on him, he showed constitution I never knew he had, even for a football player.

Like me, he went around town every day in order to learn more about Percy's current whereabouts, only to fail – like me. Besides being part of the search party, Malcolm was also my emotional balance. Without his shoulder to cry on and his words of reassurance, I would have required mental therapy. It had gotten that bad.

Malcolm was the person I went to when I had nightmares about Percy being in danger. I didn't even bother going to Luke. I knew he was secretly glad that Percy was missing. To be honest, I had my suspicions about him. Being his future wife and all, I shouldn't have suspected him, but still. I knew he had a personal vendetta against Percy. I bet he grinned to himself whenever the topic of Percy being missing was brought up.

As for my mom…I don't even know what to say. Hell, **she** doesn't even know what to say. Ever since Percy was missing, she had been more secluded than ever. After abusing Percy in the past, I had a hard time believing that she was worried about him. So what was it? What was making my mom so isolated? Was it regret? Pity?

"Annabeth," a voice echoed across my room. I dolefully looked up to see Malcolm. He attempted to cheer me up with a smile, and I had to admit, it did ease my burden a bit, but my sorrow heavily outweighed his charm.

"What is it, Mal?" I moaned. "Can't you see I'm trying to cry myself to sleep?"

"You sure?" he questioned me. I noticed a speck of excitement in his voice. "What if I told you that I have a lead on where Percy is?"

I felt myself gravitate off of my bed in curiosity. I stared Malcolm dangerously. "Mal, if this is a joke or an attempt to cheer me up, I swear I will punch you so hard—"

"Guess you're too busy threatening me to hear me out," he baited. "I'll just go look for Percy by mysel—"

"Don't. You. Dare." I challenged with my fist clenched. Despite my expressive anger, he smiled.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on, we're heading to NYPD Station."

**~0~**

"Joey, I'm back!" I heard Malcolm call out to someone when we entered the station. The interior room was beautifully decorated, to my utmost surprise. When you take into consideration that this was a police station, your surprise only multiplies. A large, beautiful chandelier hung from the heavily-decorated marble ceiling. The walls were covered with wallpapers with the NYPD symbol plastered into the center of it. The furniture looked way too expensive for the NYPD's annual budget. The beauty of the room almost made me want to start architecture again. Almost.

"Over here, Mal," somebody called back.

"Who is that?" I asked Malcolm skeptically.

"Joey – a high school friend of mine. He's a police officer here. One of the best, in fact. But that's beside the point. Joey has intel on Percy. He claimed to had seen a beaten up, raven haired teenaged boy alongside a suspicious Asian man."

My left eye twitched automatically. Did he just say Percy was beat up?

"Ah, you made it," a police officer – who I assumed was Joey – said with a smile. This auburn haired man was actually quite dashing. He was muscular, tan, and had a celebrity smile that the average girl would faint over. The only thing that detracted from his handsomeness was the scar that ran across the side of his left cheek. The scar glistened under the light of the chandelier, making it more noticeable.

"Hey bro, this is my sister – Annabeth," Malcolm introduced me. If I wasn't in a rush to find Percy, I would have exchanged pleasantries, but my mind was way too occupied to worry about formalities.

"This is Annabeth?" Joey asked as he stared at me head to toe. "Dude, your sister is frickin' hot! And she's engaged, you say?"

"Yep, I'm engaged," I answered in Malcolm's stead. I lifted up my hand to show Joey my wedding ring. "So don't make any moves unless you want to get hurt."

"Feisty one; your sis, eh?" Joey elbowed Malcolm lightly.

"Tell me about it," he replied, earning him a menacing glare from me. "But let's get to the point. Last time I was here, you said you saw Percy…"

"Yes," Joey answered, his expression suddenly grim. "Before I start my end of the story, I must warn you guys ahead of time – I'm not 100% sure if it was Percy Jackson or not. I saw a battered up guy with messy raven hair. But then again, there has only been one missing raven haired teenager, so odds are that the person I saw was Percy."

"I don't care whether or not you're 100% sure," I bellowed. "You're the best source of information we have right now. Tell us everything you know."

"Alright, well this is what I know," Joey said.

**Joey (flashback)**

"_A cheeseburger, medium fries, and a large soda, please," I told the cute female barista. _

"_Please wait a minute, sir, your food is being prepared now," the girl smiled at me. I felt myself getting mesmerized by her smile. _

'_Maybe I should ask her for her number,' I thought to myself giddily. _

_Before I could make my move, something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I saw a man –Asian by his eyes – emerging from the restroom. Suspicion was written all over him. He looked paranoid, as if he might get caught at any given time. He kept look around, eyeing everyone suspiciously. Thank God I wasn't wearing my police uniform. He probably would have dashed out of the building without a second thought if he caught a wind of me in my police attire. _

_I turned my attention back to the barista. "Is my order ready yet?" _

"_As a matter of fact, yes it is," the barista replied, handing me my McDonald's bag. _

"_And here is your money in full," I said as I exchanged my money for the bag. _

"_Come again soon, sir," she said. _

"_Oh, I will," I said, giving her a quick wink. She faintly blushed as I turned around to walk away. The Asian man I saw earlier was nowhere to be seen. I could have just left and minded my own business, but my pride as a member of the NYPD got the better of me. I ran out of the building, my eyes darting around local area for the Asian man. He was nowhere to be found. _

_I was about to leave when I noticed something shining within a construction site a few yards away. My interest already been peeked, I jogged my way over towards the site. _

_Upon reaching the construction site, I noticed a sliver SUV just sitting idly in the center of the site. The light I saw earlier was apparently the sun reflecting off of the car. _

_I heard footsteps from the other side of the area and immediately ducked behind a tall pile of log wood. Peeking out a bit, I saw the Asian man walking over towards the car. This time, however, there was somebody with him – a beaten up boy with raven hair. _

_Before I could even blink, I felt something hard slam against the back of my head. Whatever it was hurt – bad. My vision began to blur, and as I fell down to the ground, my eyes caught a glimpse of a young boy. _

**Annabeth**

"A young boy?" I murmured to myself. Then it hit me. That kid. The one I saw outside of Percy's hospital room when I left. It was him. What was him name again?

"I'm sorry I couldn't save him," Joey apologized chivalrously.

"Don't sweat it, man," Malcolm patted him on the pack. "It wasn't your fault."

Joey must have read my worried expression, because he softly chuckled.

"There is good news to this story, if you guys are still willing to listen, and some bad news too," he explained. I nodded frantically and awaited his "good news", although was a bit dubious of the "bad news".

"Before that kid – whoever he was – knocked me out, I examined and memorized the car's license plate. Nearly all of the NYPD is trying to identify the car's current location. That's the good news. The bad news is that the house Dr. Cheng lived in has been long abandoned. In other words, we're on a very cold trail."

"You make it sound hopeless," Malcolm laughed weakly.

Joey looked dead serious. "I'm not going to lie to you, Mal. Trying to find Dr. Cheng is going to be hard work. Whoever this false doctor is knows how to cover his tracks with great precision. We're trying all we can, securing airports and docks, but if we don't find him soon, chances are he – and Percy – will disappear forever."

My mind started to numb. I wanted to run. I felt like running all around America to search for Percy. I could never let him leave me permanently. The thought of never seeing him again made my stomach hurt.

Malcolm, who noticed I was shivering, hugged me tightly. I hated relying on people. I wanted to be strong and self-efficient– for Percy and for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the strain of losing Percy and shoved my face deep into Malcolm's chest as I sobbed.

"Um, I think I should leave now," Joey noted awkwardly. I felt Malcolm nod in agreement, and eventually heard fading footsteps.

"Come on, Annie, let's go sit down on the bench," Malcolm said, walking me over towards the bench. He sat me down gently and sat down himself. He took me back into a hug, where I cried for a while.

"Malcolm, I can't lose Percy," I cried pathetically. "I just can't!"

"**We **won't lose him, sis," he reassured me. "Percy is a sturdy boy. You know this better than anybody. He'll make it. You need to believe in him."

I didn't respond. I continued to cry until my throat was sore. Although it was fairly obvious that Malcolm was sugar coating it for me when he said we wouldn't lose him, there was some truth to his words. Percy **was** a sturdy boy. There was nothing Dr. Cheng could do to him that was worse than what his – our mom – did to him when he was younger. Percy will hold out. But the true question is for how long? Everybody has a breaking point, even the sturdiest of men.

I don't know when I stopped crying and eventually fell asleep. I woke up to find myself back home on my bed. Luke was sitting on the edge of the bed next to me, holding my hand. He noticed my eyes fluttering open and smiled.

"You're awake," Luke said.

"How did I get here?" I asked him, rubbing my eyes with my free hand.

"Malcolm brought you home last night. He told me everything."

I didn't like the way he said "everything."

"What did he tell you?" I asked him groggily.

"I pretty much meant it when I said 'everything,'" he replied.

There was a silence.

"Annabeth," Luke sighed. "I think you should give up your search for Percy."

I yanked my hand away from his grip the instant I heard him say that. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"No you're not," Luke prevented me from getting up. "Annabeth, just give up. Percy is probably dead or—"

"He's not dead!" I yelled in frustration. I would **not **tolerate talk like that, even if it was true.

"Why are you so persistent with that guy?" Luke yelled back at me. "I don't know if you remember, but we're going to get married soon! I'm going to be your husband, not him!"

I really wanted to refute him with something rather nasty, but managed to hold it in. "Let me out of here."

"Not until you promise me to stop your search on Percy."

"Never!" I screamed.

"Then don't blame me if I lo—"

"What's going on in here?" I heard someone say as my room door flew open. Malcolm stood there, watching Luke like a hawk. Man, he couldn't have been a better sight.

"Luke isn't letting me leave," I tattled, earning me a deadly glare from Luke.

"Tell her to stop her search for Percy," Luke commanded Malcolm.

"You do realize that even if Annabeth stops her search for Percy, Piper and I will still continue looking for him, right?" Malcolm asked him. It warmed my heart to hear him defend Percy's honor, even after all of this time.

While Luke was distracted, I took the chance to slip past him. Before he could grab me by my arm, I was behind Malcolm. Luke was strong, sure, but whether or not he could beat Malcolm, a professional football player and body builder, was another thing.

"Go take a shower and brush your teeth, Annie. You smell horrible," Malcolm teased. I nodded without hesitation and left to the bathroom. The last thing I heard before I stepped into the shower was my door slamming shut.

**~0~**

Twenty minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom feeling cleansed. For some reason, that particular shower session made me feel better. I didn't know why that was. Percy still wasn't found yet, so there was no reason to rejoice. Still, I couldn't help feeling renewed.

My slight moment of happiness was interrupted quickly by the sound of furniture banging and clashing in the direction of my room. In uneasiness, I barged into my room to find Malcolm and Luke fighting.

"Luke! Malcolm! Stop!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

They hadn't seemed to had heard me. Luke took a swing at Malcolm's head, but missed when Malcolm ducked. Following up with his dodge, Malcolm jabbed Luke in the stomach, making him stumble in pain. Malcolm had the upper hand. Despite my bitter argument with Luke, I still cared about him. More or less, anyway.

Just as I was about to break their scuffle up physically, the doorbell rang. I eyed the two fighting guys in front of me.

"Can I answer the door, or do I have to stay here to prevent you two from choking each other out?" I demanded. My words might have sounded like a joke, but I felt no sense of sarcasm when I said that. I was bitter. Percy being missing was bad enough; now the other two guys I love are at each other's throats? How is a girl supposed to deal with that?

Malcolm and Luke eyed each other and seemingly agreed to a truce, which was most likely only temporary.

"Alright then, I'm going to get the door. You two just stay here and resist the urge to break each other's bones," I said, walking out of the room. I took a deep breath. I hoped that whoever was behind the door wouldn't bring me any more misfortune.

I looked through the small glass hole on my door and was surprised at who I saw. Piper.

I opened the door hurriedly to find an unusually happy Piper grinning at me. Her sudden mood-change confused me. Why was she so happy? Did she have news on Percy?

"Annabeth, good news!" Piper exclaimed. Her grin grew wider as she said that. My heart stopped for a slight second. My gut told me that whatever she was going to say was going to be about Percy.

"What is it, Piper?" I asked frantically. "Is it about…you know…Percy?"

When I saw Piper nod, I felt my heart emerge from what had seemed to be an eternity of darkness and misery.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Tell me!" I pestered with a true, genuine smile.

"The police have pinpointed Dr. Cheng's current location! They already have him surrounded! With or without you, Annabeth, I'm heading over there," Piper said, crossing her arms sassily.

"Are you mad?" I asked in disbelief. "Of course I'm coming!"

"Great! My car is parked on your driveway. Let's head out now!" Piper said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards her car.

The whole entire car ride was silent, but not necessarily in a bad way. Both of us were anticipating our long-awaited reunion with Percy. Was he okay? Does he still remember us? God, if Dr. Cheng caused Percy to have memory loss, I will rip off his "jewels" and shove it up his—

"We're here," Piper said, interrupting my line of thought. We both exited the car and raced up to the nearest police officer.

"Sir, is Percy Jackson in that shack?" Piper and I said in unintentional unison. The officer looked a bit shocked at our out-of-place appearance, but eventually regained his standing. However, he did not answer us. He didn't even look at us.

"You should go in the shack and see for yourself," he merely said, leaving Piper and I frozen.

My legs wobbled, but I didn't waste a second in thought. I sprinted into the nearby shack, body slamming the door open with my shoulder. It hurt like hell, sure, but the anticipation I felt made me oblivious to the pain.

Joey, the police officer who hit on me the day before, turned around at the sound of the door bursting opening. When he recognized me, he stepped to the side, which was smart of him. I would have shoved him out of my way if he was in my path.

In the corner of the room in front of me, on an end table, was a postcard. Behind it was a long box wrapped around with ribbons. I gulped, slowly walking over towards the end table. I heard Piper call my name from behind, but I was too occupied to care.

I picked up the postcard and read it in my mind.

'_Dear Annabeth Chase, _

_Yes, I've been expecting you for a while now, Ms. Chase, or should I say Mrs. Castellan? I hear you've been on a rather high-end search for Percy Jackson. I pity you, you know. From experience, I know that losing someone you love hurts a lot. I know you miss him dearly, so please, accept this gift. I'm sure your thirst for meeting Percy will be satiated after seeing it._

_Dr. C.'_

As I read the last line on the postcard, Piper arrived from behind me. She began to bombard me with a bunch of questions, although I wasn't listening at all. My trembling hand uncapped the box, and after staring at the "gift" for five seconds, I passed out.

Those five seconds scarred me for life.

It was Percy's dismembered arm.

**A/N: I know what you're thinking. "You've GOT to update faster! Much faster!" And I agree. So I'll cut a deal with you guys. **

**This chapter, along with future chapters, will be shortened. It used to be 4,300 to 5,000 words per chapter, but now I'm going to cut it back a little. It's going to be around 3,200 – maybe more, maybe less – words from now on. This shouldn't be that much of a change. **

**To manage my time better, here's what I'm going to do in correspondence to the chapter reduction. I will write around 400-600 (maybe 300 if I'm lazy or super busy, which I tend to be sometimes) words per day, and this will continue until I reach to about 3,200 words. I will also leave a day to proof read the chapter. In short, this means you can expect a chapter every 1-2 weeks. HOWEVER, there might be some days where I can't or don't feel like writing, so I'll just take that day off. All in all, it shouldn't take two months anymore. Not even one month. At most, it'll take three weeks, and that's if I'm being really lazy. **

**Alright, now that that's settled, I have to say: I'm pretty sure this chapter is sloppy and contains an abnormal amount of mistakes. Or maybe it's just my paranoia of trying to be a good writer, like InfinitePanicAttack33 said. The only way I'll know is if you guys tell me. **

**-Jabba out. **


End file.
